Prime Minister

North Korea: Peace Negotiations

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Prime Minister, if she will make it her policy to urge the President of the US to engage in high-level dialogue without pre-conditions with North Korea on preserving peace and security; and if she will make a statement.

Mrs Theresa May: I refer the hon. Member to the press release issued on 5 September following my phone call with President Trump and which is available on the gov.uk website: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pm-call-with-president-trump-5-september-2017

Japan: Exports

Stephen Kerr: To ask the Prime Minister, what steps she took to promote the export of Scotch whisky and other Scottish food and drink during her recent visit to Japan.

Mrs Theresa May: I was accompanied on my visit by representatives from the Scotch Whisky Association. Further details regarding the visit can be found on the gov.uk website.

Department for Work and Pensions

Housing Benefit

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what safeguards his Department has introduced to ensure that when housing benefit is paid to tenants it is paid to the landlord.

Caroline Dinenage: Payments of Housing Benefit can be made to either the landlord or the claimant. We recognise that in a minority of cases some claimants may not utilise their Housing Benefit for the purposes of paying their rent. To minimise this we have put safeguards in place to pay Housing Benefit directly to the landlord if the claimant is likely to have difficulty in managing their rent payments, or is unlikely to pay their rent or is in rent arrears equivalent to eight weeks.

Access to Work Programme: Disclosure of Information

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons people receiving Access to Work grants do not receive a monthly statement setting out the amount of their remaining allowance.

Penny Mordaunt: The IT that is currently used to administer Access to Work (AtW) is not configured to issue monthly statements. We are continuing to develop the AtW digital service and we are testing new features and improvements with users as part of this process.

Personal Independence Payment: Complaints

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many complaints relating to personal independence payments raised by hon. Members were not responded to within 15 days.

Penny Mordaunt: The total number of complaints closed about Personal Independence Payments which received by Hon. Members is 685, of which 54 were not responded to within in 15 days.  Data provided for complaints closed within the 2016/2017 operational year.

Personal Independence Payment: Complaints

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) tier one and (b) tier two complaints relating to personal independence payments take longer than 20 working days to receive a response.

Penny Mordaunt: The number of complaints about Personal Independence Payments is as follows: Tier One complaints – A total of 6292 complaints were cleared, of which 165 took longer than 20 working days to receive a response Tier Two complaints - A total of 170 complaints were cleared, of which 30 took longer than 20 working days to receive a response. (Data provided for complaints closed within the 2016/2017 operational year)

Personal Independence Payment: Complaints

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) tier one and (b) tier two complaints relating to personal independence payments are responded to in more than 15 but less than 20 days.

Penny Mordaunt: The number of complaints about Personal Independence Payments which took more than 15 working days but less than 20 working days to receive a response is as follows: Tier One complaints - A total of 6292 complaints were cleared, of which 132 received a response which took more than 15 working days but less than 20 working days Tier Two complaints - A total of 170 complaints were cleared, of which 24 received a response which took more than 15 working days but less than 20 working days (Data provided for complaints closed within the 2016/2017 operational year)

Revenue and Customs: Staff

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many members of staff in HM Revenue and Customs worked on processing personal independence payment claims in each year since 2013.

Penny Mordaunt: The table below shows the Full Time Equivalent (FTE) number of staff working on processing PIP claims for each of the years 2013/14, 2014/15, 2015/16 and 2016/17   2013-142014-152015-162016-17PIP Claims FTE418.9865.3786.9-PIP Claims inc Training FTE*---774.3   *ABM definition changed for this work from 2016/17Source: OPS ABM FTE (L1A)Data extracted 7/9/17

Personal Independence Payment: Complaints

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) tier one and (b) tier two complaints relating to personal independence payments are responded to within 15 days.

Penny Mordaunt: The number of complaints about Personal Independence Payments is as follows: Tier One complaints - A total of 6292 complaints were cleared, of which 5995 received a response within 15 working days. Tier Two complaints - A total of 170 complaints were cleared, of which 116 received a response within 15 working days. (Data provided for complaints closed within the 2016/2017 operational year)

Department for Work and Pensions: Buildings

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much his Department has paid in letting fees for its estate in each year since 2010.

Caroline Dinenage: Since 1998 the Department occupies the majority of its accommodation under a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) known as the PRIME contract. Under the terms of this 20-year PFI, the Department contracts to occupy fully serviced accommodation from its private sector partner, Telereal Trillium. Where space is identified as being surplus to our business requirements it is surrendered to Telereal Trillium who are responsible for the cost of any subsequent commercial sub- letting.

Department for Work and Pensions: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many procurements undertaken by his Department have taken more than (a) three months, (b) six months, (c) one year and (d) two years.

Caroline Dinenage: The Department is currently in the process of enhancing the e-procurement system (Bravo) to enable such detailed reporting. At this time the information is not available without a major resource impact.

Social Security Benefits

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the implications for his policies on waiting times for (a) employment and support allowance, (b) jobseeker's allowance and (c) other out-of-work benefits are of the findings of the report, Financial insecurity, food insecurity and disability, published by the Trussell Trust in June 2017.

Penny Mordaunt: On 10th July I met with the Trussell Trust to discuss their report.Waiting days are an unpaid period at the start of a new claim to benefit, where a claimant has no entitlement to Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) or Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), but must continue to meet the relevant benefit conditions.Not all claimants are required to serve waiting days. For example claimants who have a linking claim to another benefit within 13 weeks, JSA claimants under 18 and in severe hardship or ESA claimants who are terminally ill do not serve waiting days.The fundamental principle behind the waiting days policy is that benefits are not intended to provide financial support for very brief periods, for example when someone is between jobs or during short periods of sickness.The application of waiting days at the outset of a new claim means that more support can be targeted at initiatives to help move people off benefits and into work, for example, measures to improve the literacy and numeracy skills of claimants and provide more resources to support lone parents to return to employment.JSA and ESA claimants are made aware that waiting days may apply when they make their new claim. This ensures that anyone suffering hardship can seek assistance as early as possible. Anyone who makes a new claim can apply for a Short Term Benefit Advance (STBA).STBAs provide an advance of up to 60 per cent of the value of the first full benefit payment and are repaid through deductions from subsequent benefit payments. STBAs can provide a way to smooth the impact of extending waiting days across a longer period. The offer of a STBA is subject to checks to make sure that the claimant can afford the repayments.There are similar arrangements for other out of work benefits where waiting days apply.

Unemployment

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many workless households there were in (a) 2010 and (b) the most recent period for which figures are available.

Damian Hinds: HM Government has made significant progress on reducing the number of workless households. In April-June 2010 there were 3.95 million workless households. In April-June 2017 there were 3.0 million workless households, which is the lowest on record.

Universal Credit: Rural Areas

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department has taken to support new claimants of universal credit in rural areas with a lack of access to online facilities.

Damian Hinds: As internet access can be an issue for some claimants, including those in rural areas, all jobcentres across the country have Wi-Fi and computers available, including 6000 additional computers installed to support the introduction of Universal Credit. This provides access to digital channels in every Jobcentre for claimants to use when they do not have access at home. A telephone helpline and face to face support are also available for claimants to make and manage a Universal Credit claim.

Social Security Benefits: Telephone Services

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will introduce a free telephone number for benefit claimants to contact his Department to discuss benefit inquiries and short-term benefit advance.

Caroline Dinenage: DWP current telephony policy is that calls to claim benefit should be free, so it uses 0800 telephone numbers for these calls. The Department uses 0345 telephone numbers where customers call for other reasons eg. benefit enquiries and short term benefit advance, as these are, typically, calls which take less time to resolve. If a caller raises concerns over the cost of a call, we will offer to call them back. DWP has to strike the right balance between the cost to callers and the cost to taxpayers, which is why there is a mixture of Freephone and 0345, but never premium rate, telephone numbers available.There are currently no plans to amend this policy.

Mortgages: Government Assistance

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of people who will be affected by removal of support for mortgage interest in April 2018.

Caroline Dinenage: From 6 April 2018 a new loans-based system of support for mortgage interest will replace the current benefits-based provision. Changing this support from a benefit into a loan is intended to ensure that owner-occupier claimants continue to have the same protection against the risk of having their homes repossessed, whilst providing increased fairness to taxpayers. Eligibility to support for mortgage interest loans is the same as the the support for mortgage interest as a benefit. There are currently an estimated 124,000 existing support for mortgage interest benefit recipients who will be affected by the change. The Impact Assessment and Explanatory Memorandum published alongside the Loans for Mortgage Interest Regulations in July 2017 provide information on the affected groups (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2017/725/impacts).

Social Security Benefits: Telephone Services

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if his Department will set up a dedicated telephone line for representatives from nominated charities to call on behalf of benefits claimants.

Caroline Dinenage: DWP is committed to delivering a service that can meet a claimant’s or their authorised representative’s needs during the first call. Given the large number of services that the Department delivers, this service is delivered through calling one of a range of published numbers. This ensures that the claimant is routed to the part of the Department that can best answer their questions, and includes dealing with more complex issues as they arise.As long as the charity has the authority to act on behalf of a claimant they are able to contact the correct part of the Department using the published numbers and receive the same level of service as all customers who contact the Department. We therefore have no plans to introduce a dedicated line for charities/external partners.

Universal Credit

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people receiving tax credits who will be receiving universal credit at the completion of full service roll-out.

Damian Hinds: Holding answer received on 12 September 2017



Based on the existing tax credit data and take-up we estimate that around 5.8 million people receiving Tax Credits will be receiving Universal Credit at the completion of Full Service roll-out.

Veterans: Social Security Benefits

Gavin Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the financial effect of recent welfare reforms on veterans.

Caroline Dinenage: A broader impact assessment covering the latest welfare reform changes that were brought in under the Welfare Reform Act 2016, was published and can be found at http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2015-16/welfarereformandwork/documents.html.  As a department, the DWP takes its commitments under the Armed Forces Covenant seriously and works to ensure that Service personnel, veterans, and their families are supported and treated fairly. DWP has put in place a number of measures to improve access to benefits and employment and to take account of the particular challenges some members of the Armed Forces community might face.

Universal Credit: Care Leavers

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has made an assessment of the effect of the roll-out of universal credit on care leavers.

Damian Hinds: As we continue to deliver the full Universal Credit service, with its expanded claimant base, we are continually reviewing and refining the way in which we work with vulnerable people, including care leavers.  DWP supports care leavers by creating an entitlement to Universal Credit immediately on day one of leaving care, including exemption from serving seven waiting days at the beginning of their claim. Care leavers also have day one access to Alternative Payment Arrangements and Personal Budgeting Support.  Staff in our jobcentres work with local authority leaving care teams and other organisations which support young people.  Research and analysis relating to care leavers on Universal Credit forms part of the Department for Work and Pensions’ on-going programme of Universal Credit evaluation.

Home Office

Driving: Identification

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to require drivers given notices under section 172 of the Road Traffic Act 1998 to provide the required information at a police station or electronically.

Mr Nick Hurd: Section 172 Road Traffic Act 1988 requires the registered keeper of a vehicle to identify the person who was driving it when a possible offence was committed. The requirement is however to do so only if with reasonable diligence he or she can. How the police enforce road traffic law is an operational matter for their discretion and professional judgement. This includes how they seek to confirm the identity of the driver of an alleged offence.

Police and Crime Commissioners

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to devolve budget responsibility to local police and crime commissioners.

Mr Nick Hurd: Core grant funding for policing is provided to Police and Crime Commissioners or equivalent local policing bodies on an un-ringfenced basis. Under the measures set out in the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011, PCCs are required to set budgets and determine local precept levels.

Police Stations: Greater London

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what impact assessment her Department has made of plans to close half of London's police stations.

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with (a) the Mayor of London and (b) Mayor Sophie Linden on the current and future operation of Hornsey police station.

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent representations she has received from the Metropolitan Police on proposed closures of police stations.

Mr Nick Hurd: The 2015 Spending Review protected overall police spending in real terms. Since 2015/16 police forces have received broadly flat cash budgets and we are increasing investment in transformation, improved communications and technology capabilities. The Mayor for London wrote to the Home Secretary in July to state that he had opened a consultation on the potential closure of front counters to reduce costs. Decisions on the most effective use of the Metropolitan Police’s resources, including the number and operating hours of police stations, are for Chief Officers and the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) who are held to account by the communities they serve.

Emergencies: Planning

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what contingency planning has been conducted by her Department in the event that no deal is reached on the UK leaving the EU.

Brandon Lewis: We are confident that a future partnership between the UK and EU is in the interests of both sides, so we are approaching the exit negotiations anticipating success. We do not want or expect a no deal outcome.However, a responsible government should prepare for all potential outcomes, including the unlikely scenario in which no mutually satisfactory agreement can be reached. This is exactly what we are doing across the whole of Government.The Home Office leads on EU Exit planning across a number of justice and home affairs areas, including Immigration and Security and Law Enforcement cooperation. Home Office EU Exit contingency preparations are well underway and will continue as an ongoing process until the EU Exit negotiations are complete.

Knives: Sales

Thelma Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the effect on small online businesses of proposed changes to the online sale of knives.

Sarah Newton: Tackling knife crime is a priority for the Government and we are taking action. Our approach is centred on four key strands – early intervention and prevention, working with the police on operations and enforcement, work with retailers on responsible sales and work on the legislative framework. As part of this wide approach, on 18 July the Government announced its intention to consult on a number of proposals to tackle knife crime . The consultation respond to concerns about how some retailers are selling knives online. We will use the responses to the consultation to inform further work to assess the impact on these proposals.

Immigration Controls: Enforcement

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been (a) detained and (b) deported in each year since 2010 as a result of information received from hon. Members via her Department's immigration enforcement hotlines and webpages.

Brandon Lewis: This data could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Immigration Controls: Enforcement

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many communications were received from hon. Members to her Department on immigration enforcement hotlines and webpages in each year since 2010.

Brandon Lewis: Since records began MPs have submitted information to the Home Office online on 85 occasions - 2014 (4), 2015 (44), 2016 (29) and in 2017 (8). The have contacted us by telephone on 13 times – 2013 (4), 2014 (2), 2015 (5) and in 2017 (2).

Immigration

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if her Department will introduce a time limit for holding immigration and asylum applicants.

Brandon Lewis: The Government has no plans to introduce a fixed time limit on immigration detention as this would only encourage detainees to refuse to cooperate with immigration and asylum processes until they reached the point at which they had to be released from detention. Published Home Office policy is clear, however, that detention is only used for the shortest period necessary.

Immigration Controls: Enforcement

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether immigration enforcement information passed to her Department by hon. Members contravenes the Data Protection Act 1998.

Brandon Lewis: The data passed by Members of Parliament to the Home Office does not contravene the Data Protection Act 1998 as information is passed with the consent of the constituent.

National Security

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what contingency planning has been conducted by her Department on matters of national security in the event that no deal is reached on the UK leaving the EU.

Mr Ben  Wallace: A future partnership between the UK and EU on security and law enforcement issues is in the interests of both sides and we approach negotiations anticipating success. We do not want or expect a no deal outcome. However, a responsible government should prepare for all potential outcomes. That is exactly what we are doing across the whole of Government. The Home Office leads on EU Exit planning across a number of justice and home affairs areas, including Immigration and Security and Law Enforcement cooperation. Home Office EU Exit contingency planning is well underway, and this will continue as an ongoing process until the EU Exit negotiations are complete. In relation to national security, Article 4(2) of the Treaty on European Union sets out that national security remains the sole responsibility of Member States rather than the European Union.

Home Office: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many procurements undertaken by her Department have taken more than (a) three months, (b) six months, (c) one year and (d) two years.

Sarah Newton: The information requested is not currently held centrally.However, Home Office are committed to the HMT Transparency Agenda and EU Competition regulations and therefore all contract requirements and awards that exceed the EU procurement directives' financial thresholds are advertised in the Supplement to the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) via contract notices. Furthermore, all requirements and contract awards over £10,000 are published on Contracts Finder at this link: https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder .

European Arrest Warrants

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the Government plans to publish the most up-to-date European Arrest Warrant statistics.

Brandon Lewis: Statistics on the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) are published by the National Crime Agency, these figures include the number of EAWs issued or received by the United Kingdom, arrests made under an EAW and the number of surrenders made under an EAW either to or from the UK.The figures, since 2010, are published at: - http://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/publications/european-arrest-warrant-statistics

Home Office: Buildings

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much her Department has received from sub-lets on its estate in each year since 2010.

Sarah Newton: The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Police National Computer

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many private companies have access to the Police National Computer; and how much accrued to the public purse from charges on such companies for access to that computer in each of the last three years.

Mr Nick Hurd: There are three private companies, Post Office, Royal Mail and National Air Traffic Services who have access to the Police National Computer. The following amounts were accrued from such companies: 2014/15: £1982.212015/16: £3557.532016/17: £7384.14

Brook House Immigration Removal Centre

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average length of time is that detainees have remained at Brook House Immigration Removal Centre in the latest period for which figures are available.

Brandon Lewis: The length of detention figures for people in the detention estate are available from the Home Office website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/638608/detention-apr-jun-2017-tables.ods

Drugs: Misuse

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans the Government has to tackle trends in the incidence of the drug known as Spice.

Sarah Newton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans the Government has to tackle trends in the incidence of the drug known as Spice Use of new psychoactive substances has fallen significantly since we introduced the Psychoactive Substances Act, hundreds of retailers have shut and the first offenders have been convicted.   However, the Government recognises how dangerous synthetic cannabinoids, such as those found in spice, can be and the devastating impact that they can have on those taking them. That is why we acted to control these substances as class B drugs under the Misuse of Drugs Act and give the police the powers they need to take action, including making possession illegal and delivering longer sentences for dealers Our new Drug Strategy, emphasised the importance of a joined up approach to tackling the harms caused by drugs to prevent substance misuse, restrict the supply of drugs and support people from drug dependency. We strongly support the multi-agency approach being taken in areas to respond to this issue to reduce burden on public services and to prevent harm to the individuals themselves.

Home Office: Buildings

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much her Department has paid in letting fees for its estate in each year since 2010.

Sarah Newton: The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Borders: Personal Records

Sir Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how data from exit checks conducted between April 2015 and April 2016 has been used by her Department.

Sir Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what analysis her Department has undertaken of the exit check data collated by her Department between April 2015 and April 2016.

Brandon Lewis: The Home Office published on 24 August 2017 a second report on statistics being collected under the exit checks programme (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/second-report-on-statistics-being-collected-under-the-exit-checks-programme). Chapter 1 sets out the operational uses of the exit checks system as well as improvements to immigration control and compliance since 2010.

Immigration Controls: Australasia

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans the Government has to make the e-passport gates at UK airports available to citizens of Australia and New Zealand.

Brandon Lewis: Citizens of Australia and New Zealand who regularly travel to the UK or hold a UK visa already have the option of becoming a member of the Registered Traveller Service, the benefits of which include use of the ePassport gates. A complete overview of the service and the eligibility requirements can be found at: www.gov.uk/registered-traveller.

101 Calls

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that operators on the 101 non-emergency crime reporting service have sufficient knowledge of the local areas for which they are responsible.

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average waiting time was by local authority area for calls to the 101 non-emergency crime reporting service in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Mr Nick Hurd: The handling of 101 calls is an operational matter for the police. The Home Office does not request 101 data from forces.

Immigration

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effect of the new A2 qualification requirement on non-UK residents seeking permanent leave to remain.

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications for permanent leave to remain have been refused as a result of not meeting the new A2 qualification, for each parliamentary constituency.

Brandon Lewis: The A2 level English language requirement under the family Immigration Rules applies to applications for further temporary leave to remain as a partner or parent, after 30 months in the UK on a five-year route to settlement. We expect those coming to the UK on a family visa with only basic English to become more fluent over time, to support their integration. The requested breakdown of refusals would require a manual review of all relevant applications, which would incur disproportionate cost.

Crimes of Violence: Acids

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with the pharmaceutical industry on preventing household products being used in acid attacks.

Sarah Newton: Officials have met with the UK Cleaning Products Industry Association and are meeting the Chemical Business Association, to discuss how they can support action to prevent the use of acid and other corrosives as a weapon.

Emergency Services: Mental Health Services

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure a trained mental health specialist is on duty in all emergency service call centres to assist with identifying callers who may require mental health support.

Sarah Newton: The staffing of emergency service call centres is an operational matter for the police. Over thirty police forces across the country now operate some form of street triage scheme. Some of these consist of mental health professionals embedded in call centres, while others adopt a model of joint working between police officers and mental health professionals on the front line.

Firearms: Crime

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on additional funding to tackle gun crime for (a) Merseyside Police and (b) other police forces.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Secretary is in regular discussion with the Chancellor about Home Office funding, including that for the police. The 2015 Spending Review protected police funding in real terms, assuming Police and Crime Commissioners maximise precept. Since then, police forces have received broadly flat cash direct resource funding and we are increasing investment in transformation and improved communications and technology capabilities. As a result, Merseyside police force received £500,000 more in 2017/18 compared with 2015/16.However, the Government recognises that the police have faced significant challenges this year. We have, therefore, set in hand a programme of engagement to understand better the demands they face, and how these can best be managed. As part of this, the Minister for Policing and Fire Minister will be visiting a number of forces, including Merseyside, over the next few months.

Detainees

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make statutory provision of appropriate adults for vulnerable adult detainees; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Nick Hurd: When an adult detainee in police custody is identified as being mentally disordered or otherwise mentally vulnerable, the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 Code of Practice C (detention) and H (detention – terrorism) requires the police to call for an appropriate adult. Whilst there is no explicit statutory requirement for provision of appropriate adults in these circumstances, there are currently various commissioning arrangements in operation across England and Wales to meet appropriate adult demand, led principally by local authorities. In recognition of the importance of appropriate adult support for vulnerable adults, and the challenges identified by the National Appropriate Adult Network in their report ‘There to Help: Ensuring provision of appropriate adults for mentally vulnerable adults detained or interviewed by the police’, the Government is working with partners through the Vulnerable Adult Working Group to explore how best to improve appropriate adult support across England and Wales. There are currently no plans to introduce a specific statutory requirement concerning provision.

Firearms: Crime

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the trends in the level of gun crime in (a) Merseyside and (b) England and the implications of that assessment for any reform of police funding.

Mr Nick Hurd: The UK has some of the toughest gun laws in the world and an excellent record on enforcement. As a result firearm offences make up a small proportion of overall recorded crime. We are in regular discussion with police forces and the National Ballistics Intelligence Service to monitor gun crime levels. The ONS statistics show that firearms offences are 34% lower than they were a decade ago, though there has been an increase nationally in recent years. The opposite has been the case in Merseyside in recent years, with firearms offences falling. However, we know incidents where a firearm has been discharged have increased over the last year in Merseyside. We continue to work closely with law enforcement partners to ensure that we have the right intelligence, detection and enforcement capabilities internationally, at the UK border and within the UK. For example, firearms controls have been strengthened through the Policing and Crime Act 2017 and a multi-agency firearms unit has been established. On 5th September this unit was awarded £2.4m of Police Transformation Funding. We are also introducing statutory guidance for the police on firearms licensing to ensure that the robust processes in place for assessing an individual’s suitability to own a gun are applied consistently. Last year we initiated a new firearms science and technology programme, committing £2m over two years, to the development of automatic threat detection technology. The 2015 Spending Review protected police funding in real terms, assuming Police and Crime Commissioners maximise precept. Since then, police forces have received broadly flat cash direct resource funding and we are increasing investment in transformation and improved communications and technology capabilities. As a result, Merseyside police force received £500,000 more in 2017/18 compared with 2015/16. However, the Government recognises that the police have faced significant challenges this year. We have, therefore, set in hand a programme of engagement to understand better the demands they face, and how these can best be managed. As part of this, the Minister for Policing and Fire Minister will be visiting a number of forces, including Merseyside, over the next few months.

Knives: West Midlands

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many instances of knife-related crime have been recorded in (a) Wolverhampton and (b) the area covered by West Midlands Police in each month since 2015; and how many of those instances involved the use of machetes.

Mr Nick Hurd: Data on knife offences at the police force area level can be found in the Home Office Knife Crime Open Data Tables, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-recorded-crime-open-data-tables

Firearms: Wolverhampton

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many instances of gun-related crime have been recorded in Wolverhampton in each year since 2010.

Mr Nick Hurd: Data on firearms offences at the police force area level can be found in Table 3.12 in the Office for National Statistics publication ‘Focus on violent crime and sexual offences’, available here:https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/appendixtablesfocusonviolentcrimeandsexualoffences

Northern Ireland Office

Marriage: Northern Ireland

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, with reference to the case Smyth 2017 No. 038954 on legal recognition for humanist marriages in Northern Ireland, what effect the absence of a Northern Ireland Executive has on the Government of Northern Ireland's authority to continue to contest that case; and if he will make a statement.

James Brokenshire: The Attorney General for Northern Ireland issued a Note of Appeal following the High Court ruling providing temporary authorisation for a celebrant to perform a legally valid and binding humanist wedding ceremony. The Attorney General for Northern Ireland exercises his functions independently. Marriage is an entirely devolved matter in Northern Ireland.

Marriage: Northern Ireland

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what information the Government holds on how much the (a) Department of Finance and Registrar General's Office and (b) Office of the Northern Ireland Attorney General have spent contesting case Smyth 2017 No. 038954 on legal recognition of humanist marriages in Northern Ireland at the (i) High Court and (ii) Court of Appeal.

James Brokenshire: The Northern Ireland Office does not hold the data requested as matters relating to marriage are devolved in Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland Office: Arms Length External Organisations

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what estimate he has made of the number of new arms-length bodies his Department plans to establish once the UK has left the EU.

James Brokenshire: My Department has made no estimate on the number of new arms-length bodies we would establish once the UK has left the EU. While there are a number of agencies whose functions will transfer over to the UK, almost all of these will be absorbed into existing Government organisations. The Government policy ensures that new bodies are only set up as a last resort, when the core department or existing bodies are unable to carry out the proposed functions.

Abortion: Northern Ireland

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what discussions he has had with the (a) Police Service of Northern Ireland, (b) Department of Justice, Northern Ireland and (c) Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland on individuals charged under the Offences Against the Person Act 1981 for purchasing abortion medication for (i) their own use and (ii) use by a third party.

James Brokenshire: As abortion, and policing and justice, are devolved matters in Northern Ireland, I have not held any such discussions.

Northern Ireland Government

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what progress has been made on the formation of an executive in Northern Ireland since the start of the summer recess; and if he will make a statement.

James Brokenshire: The UK Government continues to engage with the parties and the Irish Government towards the priority of restoring the Executive and Assembly. All parties have emphasised their desire to find a way to resolve the issues currently preventing them from forming a government. The people of Northern Ireland need a fully functioning inclusive Executive where strategic decisions can be made by locally elected politicians in the interests of the whole community.

Enterprise Zones: Northern Ireland

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps the Government is taking to ensure the effectiveness of Enterprise Zones in promoting  job creation and innovation in (a) Coleraine and (b) elsewhere in Northern Ireland.

James Brokenshire: Holding answer received on 11 September 2017



I was delighted to see the launch of the Enterprise Zone in Coleraine earlier this year which was made possible thanks to legislation taken forward by the UK Government to allow the Enterprise Zone to benefit from Enhanced Capital Allowances. This is a prime example of how the UK Government can support the devolved regions to boost the economy and drive growth. I am aware that work is ongoing to develop the Coleraine Zone which represents a significant economic opportunity for the area.I am committed to working with all stakeholders to ensure growth and opportunity is shared. Government and business must work together to build an economy that works for everyone, in Northern Ireland and the whole of the United Kingdom.

Northern Ireland Office: Buildings

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how much his Department has paid in letting fees for its estate in each year since 2010.

Chloe Smith: My Department has not paid letting fees for its estate in the period requested.

Northern Ireland Office: Disclosure of Information

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps he is taking to promote whistleblowing in his Department.

Chloe Smith: The Northern Ireland Office's whistleblowing policy is made available to all staff on the Department’s intranet and regularly promoted through blogs and annual awareness days; the next planned awareness day is 21 September 2017. In addition, the Department's Management Board is committed to the highest standards of openness, honesty and accountability and has designated the lead non-executive and an executive board member with responsibility for the promotion of whistleblowing across the wider Northern Ireland Office family.

Northern Ireland Office: Behavioural Insights Team

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how much his Department has paid to the Behavioural Insights Team in each year since 2014.

Chloe Smith: My Department has not made any payments to the Behavioural Insights Team since 2014.

Cross Border Cooperation: Republic of Ireland

Chris Law: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on changes to (a) the way in which the border with the Republic of Ireland will be policed for immigration purposes and (b) the resources allocated to the Border Force after the UK leaves the EU.

Chloe Smith: The Government has been clear that it is a priority to maintain the Common Travel Area. Border Force actively monitors its work to ensure sufficient resources are in place to meet demand and will continue to do so throughout negotiations and as the UK leaves the EU.

Universal Credit: Northern Ireland

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what assessment he has made of the effect of the introduction of universal credit on family incomes in Northern Ireland.

James Brokenshire: Universal Credit will make work pay. It will support people in Northern Ireland who are on a low income or out of work, helping to ensure that they are better off in work than on benefits.

Terrorism: Northern Ireland

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what recent discussions he has had with political parties in Northern Ireland on the incidence of paramilitary activity.

Chloe Smith: The 2015 Fresh Start Agreement included a number of measures aimed at tackling paramilitary activity. While the Northern Ireland Civil Service continues to implement the Executive’s Paramilitary Action Plan, Executive ministers would be best placed to drive this work. This is another example of the importance of devolved government.

Economic Situation: Northern Ireland

Bob Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what recent assessment he has made of the performance of the Northern Ireland economy.

James Brokenshire: The fundamentals of the Northern Ireland economy remain strong, with growth last year at 1.6%. Economic activity is up, unemployment has fallen to levels not seen since before the Great Recession of 2008, and 43,000 more people are in work compared to 2010.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Staff

Angus Brendan MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many officials of her Department, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies have the word trade in their job title.

Matt Hancock: From departmental records, the present number of officials with the word trade in their job title is currently 9; with further recruitment on-going. This resource is complemented by officials in sector teams working on a range of sector-specific trade-related issues across the department. The information requested on our agencies is not held centrally.

5G: Rural Areas

James Cartlidge: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what her policy is on the provision of 5G services in rural areas.

Matt Hancock: The Government set out its views in its 5G strategy that was published at Spring Budget 2017. 5G networks will have a role to play, alongside existing technologies, in delivering connectivity in rural areas, for example to support new use cases such as smart farming. The Government will use its new 5G Testbeds & Trials programme to test use cases in both rural and urban areas, to improve our understanding of the economics of infrastructure deployment in different scenarios and locations, and how infrastructure can be deployed in a cost-effective way.

BBC: Equal Pay

Thelma Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce the gender pay gap at the BBC.

Matt Hancock: The government is committed to eliminating the gender pay gap. As a public service broadcaster funded by the licence fee, the BBC has a responsibility to set an example for others and lead the way in promoting equality in the workplace. It is for the BBC to determine how to close its gender pay gap and we expect to see improvement in next year's disclosure.

Gaming Machines: Reviews

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the Answer of 12 September 2016 to Question 45539 from the right hon. Member for East Ham, on gaming machines, when the Triennial Review of Stakes and Prizes will be published.

Tracey Crouch: An announcement will be made in October.

Gaming Machines

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate her Department has made of the proportion of funds staked on fixed-odds betting terminals that is staked by (a) problem gamblers and (b) people who are in receipt of benefits.

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate her Department has made of the total number of people in receipt of benefits who regularly use fixed-odds betting terminals.

Tracey Crouch: On 24 August the Gambling Commission published a report that draws together evidence on gambling behaviour, including that on fixed odds betting terminals, in England, Scotland and Wales. The report can be found here:http://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/PDF/survey-data/Gambling-behaviour-in-Great-Britain-2015.pdf

Drugs: Sports Competitors

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many people have been found guilty of illegal drug-taking in sport in each of the last five years.

Tracey Crouch: UK Anti-Doping issued the following number of sanctions to athletes with Adverse Analytical Findings;Year (1 January to 31 December)Number of athletes sanctioned by UKAD following an Adverse Analytical Finding2017 to date9201619201531201412201324201220 The figures refer to the date that the athlete’s sanction was made public, in some cases the date that the athlete provided the positive sample may have been in an earlier year.The figures relate to “Presence” cases only (i.e. the athlete provided an Adverse Analytical Finding). ‘Non-Analytical Findings’ (refusing a test, trafficking banned substances etc) are not included in these figures. UK Anti-Doping is a world leading National Anti-Doping Organisation (NADO) with a strong testing programme, the is is evidenced by the World Anti-Doping Agency asking UKAD to manage the testing programme in Russia as part of the work to make the Russian NADO compliant once again with the World Ant-Doping Code. The Government is fully committed to eradicating the use of performance enhancing substances and methods in sport. Performance enhancing drugs remain a threat to the integrity of sport and the health and wellbeing of all our athletes.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Buildings

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how much her Department has received from sub-lets on its estate in each year since 2010.

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many procurements undertaken by her Department have taken more than (a) three months, (b) six months, (c) one year and (d) two years.

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how much her Department has paid in letting fees for its estate in each year since 2010.

Matt Hancock: The information requested is not held centrally and to obtain it would incur a disproportionate cost.

Digital Technology: Skilled Workers

Stephen Kerr: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what initiatives are being sponsored by her Department to support and grow the UK digital skills base.

Matt Hancock: DCMS has sponsored many programs that have helped support and grow the UK digital skills base. Some of them include the following: Through grant funding, we have supported Ada, the National College for Digital Skills to build and pilot an innovative, online platform that will teach coding skills using elements of peer-to-peer and gamified learning. The first school-age students started using the platform in June 2017 in a pilot that was rolled out to 30 schools across the UK. Over 1,000 students – more than double the initial target of 500 – benefited from this learning DCMS is leading on a new digital skills partnership programme which will convene stakeholders across the public, private and charity sector to tackle the digital skills gap in a co-ordinated and coherent way. The DSP will also deliver on the 4 million training places announced in the Digital Strategy DCMS is also leading on a number of short and long-term government interventions to address the cyber security skills gap, funded through the National Cyber Security Programme including a programme targeted at 14-18 year olds and a range of activity in further and higher education.

Greyhounds: Animal Welfare

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the voluntary levy on the betting industry to support greyhound welfare, what progress the Government has made on encouraging bookmakers to join the scheme and secure contributions for revenue generated in (a) the UK  and (b) offshore; and what further steps the Government plans to take to encourage more bookmakers to join that scheme.

Tracey Crouch: With regard to those based in Great Britain, the Association of British Bookmakers has estimated that over 90% of all Licenced Betting Offices in Britain contribute to the voluntary levy. Earlier this year I wrote to trade bodies representing the betting industry to ask that they take part in discussions to improve the current funding position in the greyhound industry, to be chaired by Lord Lipsey. Lord Lipsey’s work is ongoing and Ladbrokes Coral have followed Bet 365 and recently announced that they will begin making voluntary contributions to the greyhound racing industry based on their offshore business from the start of 2018. This is a welcome boost to the sport which will strengthen the industry's ability to meet and exceed their commitments in relation to welfare and integrity and I would urge all betting operators who do not currently contribute to the voluntary levy to reconsider their position.

Employment: Exercise

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 23 February 2017 to Question 64237, what steps she has taken since March 2017 to establish a network of employers which will bring together organisations keen to support and encourage their staff to be more physically active.

Tracey Crouch: Government remains committed to establishing a network of employers in line with the recommendation set out in Sporting Future: A New Strategy for an Active Nation. We are working with Department of Health and Department for Work and Pensions to move this forward and hope to be able to make an announcement on this shortly.

Video Games

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate she has made of the value of the video games industry to the UK economy in each of the last five years.

Matt Hancock: DCMS’ annual Economic Estimates show the value of the Computer Games sub-sector for 2013 to 2015 only. Latest figures, published in November 2016, show that the sector contributed over £400 million to the UK economy per year in that period. 2016 data will be published at the end of this year.

Voluntary Work: Young People

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many people have participated in the National Citizen Service since its creation.

Tracey Crouch: Since 2011 over 300,000 young people have participated in National Citizen Service. A further 100,000 are expected to participate this year meaning that it continues to demonstrate year on year growth.

Tax Allowances: Exercise

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions her Department has had with HM Treasury officials on using taxation as a method to encourage physical activity.

Tracey Crouch: DCMS ministers and officials have regular meetings with their HMT counterparts on a range of issues, including on matters regarding physical activity. Following a consultation in summer 2016, Corporation Tax (CT) relief for contributions to grassroots sports will be expanded from 1 April 2017. This measure will make it easier for CT payers to receive a deduction for contributions to grassroots sports, thereby encouraging sports participation at a local level, and reducing administrative burdens for some organisations which currently make contributions to grassroots sports.

BBC: Equal Pay

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what information her Department holds on the gender pay gap at the BBC in each of the last five years.

Matt Hancock: The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport does not hold any information on the gender pay gap at the BBC for the last five years. The BBC has published the pay of top talent and is due to publish its first mandatory gender pay gap reporting figures by April next year.

Museums and Galleries: Reviews

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when she plans to publish the Museums Review.

John Glen: The Museums Review is in its end stages following an extensive period of research, analysis and sector engagement around the emerging recommendations. The Department is presently engaged in securing the necessary clearances for publication, and expects to publish in the Autumn.

Department of Health

Health Services: Public Bodies

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to create an independent healthcare safety investigations body in the NHS.

Mr Philip Dunne: In June 2017, the Queen’s Speech confirmed that the Government would publish a Bill in draft that will legislate for a new independent health service safety investigations body. We intend to publish the Bill in draft shortly and anticipate this would be followed by a process of pre-legislative scrutiny.

NHS: Finance

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will publish all documentation relating to the capped expenditure process.

Mr Philip Dunne: NHS England have published, at a national level, documents which describe the overall approach.Individual clinical commissioning groups directly affected will reflect the impact of the capped expenditure process as part of their publication of plans, and will comply with any further requirements for consultation.

Essure

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many women have reported problems to the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency about the Essure implant in the last five years.

Steve Brine: Following the suspension of the CE certificate for Essure devices, the manufacturer has agreed to voluntarily quarantine Essure stock in the United Kingdom. Patient safety is our highest priority and we encourage the reporting of any adverse incidents to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), regardless of how long ago the implant was inserted. The MHRA are bound by UK and European Union legislation that preclude us from releasing the information that has been requested. However, there is currently no evidence to suggest any increased risk to patient safety. Any women with questions should speak to their general practitioner or healthcare professional.

Accident and Emergency Departments

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 29 June 2017 to Question 822, on accident and emergency departments, what progress is being made on introducing front-door clinical streaming in accident and emergency departments by October 2017.

Mr Philip Dunne: £100 million of capital funding has been made available for primary care streaming in accident and emergency departments. This was confirmed in the budget statement of 8 March 2017. Since then 117 sites across 102 trusts have been successful in bidding for this funding, with a total of £90,857,030 million allocated. Each of these trusts has confirmed that this will add or increase capacity for clinical streaming, or improve patient flow through the emergency department. NHS England and NHS Improvement remain committed to have primary care streaming, or an equivalent local model, in all emergency departments by October 2017 and will monitor both the implementation and impact of streaming thereafter.

NHS Walk-in Centres

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many walk-in centres will close as a consequence of the decision to introduce front-door clinical streaming.

Mr Philip Dunne: NHS England’s Five Year Forward View clearly sets out the intention for “roll out of standardised new urgent treatment centres”, which will build on the current range of service such as walk in centres and urgent care centres. As such, this form of care remains a central part of how urgent care is provided in England. Local commissioners are responsible for commissioning urgent care services. These commissioners have a responsibility to consider the needs of the population they serve as a whole and commission services accordingly, but we have no information that suggests that any urgent treatment centres have closed as a result of the £100 million of capital the Government has put in place to support the delivery of primary care streaming.

Innovative Medicines and Medical Technology Review

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when the Government plans to respond to the Final Report of the Accelerated Access Review; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Brine: The Government is carefully considering the recommendations in the Accelerated Access Review with its key partners and will provide a formal response by the end of October. Details on the announcement will follow.

NHS: Reorganisation

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many online visitors the sustainability and transformation partnerships dashboard has received in each week since it was published.

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 29 June 2017 to Question 690, on NHS: reorganisation, how many online visitors the NHS England Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships website has received in each week since it was made available.

Steve Brine: Information about Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships (STPs) is hosted on NHS England’s website with a main page at:www.england.nhs.uk/stps.Since the beginning of the year this page has received an average of 3,830 visits per week. The total number of visits on this page up to and including 3 September was 134,073. Data on how many online visitors to the NHS England STP website is only available for this calendar year.Since its launch in July 2017, the webpage featuring the STP dashboard has received an average 956 visits per week. The total number of visits on this page up to and including 3 September was 6,693.A full breakdown by week for both pages is below.STP home pageWeekNumber of visits2-8 January3,3329-15 January4,56916-22 January5,83623-29 January4,77930 January -5 February4,3926-12 February5,51113-19 February4,60420-26 February5,70727 February -5 March4,7966-12 March5,46313-19 March4,61020-26 March4,43327 March -2 April4,6633-9 April4,03210-16 April3,04717-23 April3,56224-30 April3,7891-7 May3,9758-14 May3,91815-21 May3,64622-28 May2,86429 May-4 June3,0285-11 June3,35012-18 June3,11519-25 June3,18926 June-2 July3,3823-9 July3,28610-16 July3,06717-23 July4,35424-30 July3,26831 July-6 August2,7767-13 July2,68614-20 August2,56921-27 August2,24528 August -3 September2,230  TOTAL134,073STP dashboard download page WeekNumber of visits17-23 July1,31624-30 July2,44331 July-6 August1,1367-13 August67214-20 August47221-27 August35328 August-3 September301TOTAL6,693

Essure

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of patients who were given an Essure implant were readmitted for follow-up surgery.

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will estimate the cost to the NHS of follow-up surgery for patients who have been given an Essure implant.

Steve Brine: This information is not collected centrally.

Neonatal Critical Care Transformation Programme Review

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the key milestones are of the Neonatal Transformation Review; and when that review plans to (a) announce its plans, (b) consult and (c) report its findings.

Mr Philip Dunne: The aim of the Neonatal Critical Care Transformation Programme Review is to make recommendations that will support the delivery of high quality, safe, sustainable and equitable models of neonatal care across England. It will be presenting a draft review report to NHS England in October 2017. The draft report will then be consulted upon before being finalised. The Neonatal Critical Care Review has already set out a range of themes that are to be factored into Local Maternity Systems’ Transformation Plans.

Huddersfield Royal Infirmary: Accident and Emergency Departments

Thelma Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many patients were admitted to the Huddersfield Royal Infirmary Accident and Emergency Department in each of the last seven years.

Mr Philip Dunne: The information is not available in the format requested. NHS England publishes trust-level data on the number of attendances at accident and emergency (A&E) departments, but data on attendances at individual hospital sites are not available. The table below provides the number of A&E attendances at Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust for the full years 2010-11 to 2016-17 and the year to date position in 2017-18.Attendances at A&E2010-112011-122012-132013-142014-152015-162016-172017-18 Year to Date*134,528137,821140,825138,799142,038148,355151,35451,194*Activity from April to July 2017 inclusiveSources: NHS England:2010 data is from the Quarterly Monitoring of Accident and Emergency (QMAE) collection. The number of emergency admissions not via A&E were not collected on the QMAE return.2011-12 to June 2015 data is from the A&E Attendance and Emergency Admissions Weekly Sitrep collection.From July 2015 data comes from the A&E Attendance and Emergency Admissions Monthly Sitrep collection.

Hospitals: Construction

Thelma Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his policy is on the use of private financial investment companies to fund the building of new hospitals.

Mr Philip Dunne: It is for individual National Health Service trusts and foundation trusts to make decisions in consultation with local stakeholders (e.g. clinical commissioning groups) about their facilities and accordingly they are responsible for developing their own business cases for major new investment projects. They are required to do so with regard to value for money and affordability of the different options. The Department and NHS Improvement works closely with trusts going through this process. HM Treasury are responsible for the policy on the use of Private Finance 2 (PF2), the successor to the Private Finance Initiative, introduced under the Coalition Government in 2012. This introduced changes to the previous model.

Ambulance Services: Lost Property

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many times items belonging to patients using ambulance services in England and Wales were lost in the most recent annual data period.

Mr Philip Dunne: This information is not held centrally.

Transvaginal Mesh Implants

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information his Department holds on ongoing or long-term delays for women seeking to have vaginal meshes removed.

Mr Philip Dunne: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Transvaginal Mesh Implants

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with hospital trusts on the use of vaginal meshes to treat urinary tract infections.

Mr Philip Dunne: Transvaginal meshes are used to treat women suffering from stress urinary incontinence or pelvic organ prolapse. The Department and NHS England have not had any discussions with hospital trusts regarding the use of the vaginal meshes to treat urinary tract infections.

Lyme Disease

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people have been given a diagnosis of Lyme disease in the UK in the last five years.

Steve Brine: Public Health England (PHE) reports data for reference laboratory confirmed cases of Lyme disease in England and Wales. Collated United Kingdom-wide data is available up to 2015 and can be found in the PHE annual Zoonoses reports, available at:www.gov.uk/government/publications/zoonoses-uk-annual-reports Provisional figures for 2016 and 2017 can be found in the 2016 end of year (Q1 – Q4) Health Protection Report links below:www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/593004/hpr0617_zoos.pdf The 2017 Q1-Q2 Health Protection Report can be accessed via:www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/637401/hpr2817_zoos.pdf

Care Homes: Standards

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many (a) NHS and (b) private care homes have been sanctioned for cases of neglect in the last 12 months.

Jackie Doyle-Price: For the year 2016 under the offence of ‘care provider ill treatment/wilful neglect of an individual or breach of duty of care’, 17 had cautions issued, two were fined, 72 were proceeded against and 25 were convicted. The official statistics provided by the Ministry of Justice do not distinguish between National Health Service and private care homes, nor do they categorise offences by reference to ‘sanctions’.

Obesity

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to reduce deaths due to obesity.

Steve Brine: Many of the key commitments in our world-leading childhood obesity plan, launched in August 2016, will have an impact on tackling obesity across all age groups. These include the soft drinks industry levy and sugar reduction programme, which will reduce the amount of sugar we all consume. Alongside this, Public Health England is now considering the evidence on children’s calorie consumption and will set the ambition for a calorie reduction programme to remove excess calories from the foods children consume the most. Steps to tackle obesity in adults include the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme, which identifies those at high risk of developing diabetes and provides tailored, personalised help to reduce that risk including education on healthy eating and lifestyle and bespoke physical exercise programmes to tackle excess weight. There is also Public Health England’s “One You” marketing campaign, which engages adults in healthier behaviours including better eating habits and increasing physical activity. A copy of “Childhood Obesity: A Plan for Action” is attached and is available at:www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/546588/Childhood_obesity_2016__2__acc.pdf



PQ8484 attached document
(PDF Document, 336.53 KB)

Zytiga

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make Zytiga available on the NHS.

Steve Brine: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published technology appraisal guidance recommending Zytiga (abiraterone) for the treatment of metastatic prostate cancer subject to a commercial access arrangement agreed between the manufacturer and NHS England. National Health Service commissioners in England are legally required to fund drugs and treatments recommended in NICE technology appraisal guidance. This is reflected in the NHS Constitution as a right to NICE approved drugs.

Gastrointestinal System: Pain

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people in the UK have been diagnosed with chronic stomach pains in the last 12 months.

Steve Brine: Data on the number of people diagnosed with chronic stomach pains is not collected.

Menometrorrhagia

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many women have been diagnosed with menometrorrhagia in each of the last five years.

Steve Brine: The information requested is not held centrally.

Heart and Kidney Diseases: Medical Treatments

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to increase the availability of treatments to reduce heart and kidney disease.

Steve Brine: NHS England is committed to providing timely access to new drugs and medical technologies and is working closely with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence on how this can be best achieved, while also ensuring the financial sustainability of the National Health Service. Clinical commissioning groups are also responsible for working with their local communities to understand the needs of the local populations and make decisions about how best to commission services that meet those needs.

Trastuzumab Emtansine

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to make Kadcyla available to patients in the UK.

Steve Brine: Trastuzumab emtansine (Kadcyla) has been funded and available to National Health Service patients in England since 2013 for the treatment of patients with HER2-positive unresectable, locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer after trastuzumab and a taxane.

Drugs: Sports Competitors

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on steps to reduce illegal drug-taking in sports.

Steve Brine: No specific discussions have taken place between my Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on this issue. Officials across Government departments work closely together to tackle the harms that all illicit drugs cause, including those used illegally in sports to improve performance.

Police and Crime Commissioners

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to ensure police and crime commissioners sit on local health and wellbeing boards.

Steve Brine: At present a local authority has the ability to appoint a police and crime commissioner to its health and wellbeing board (HWB), although it is not mandatory. We are currently considering the role and membership of HWBs, both voluntary and prescribed.

Care Homes: Life Expectancy

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average life expectancy is of an elderly resident in a care home.

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average cost of an elderly residential care home is in the (a) private and (b) public sector.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The average costs in an elderly residential care home in the private and public sector are below - Residential care for age 65+, external provision: £534 per week in 2015/16;- Residential care for age 65+, in house provision: £789 per week in 2015/16; and- The data suggests that only 5.7% of local authority funded age 65+ residential care weeks were in in-house facilities. The source is:http://www.content.digital.nhs.uk/catalogue/PUB22240The Department does not hold any data on average life expectancy of elderly residents in care homes – however the Department does hold published data on a resident’s length of stay in a care home where a service user’s stay ends due to their death. While this is occasionally used as a measure for life expectancy, this does not record stays for individuals in care homes where their stay ended because they moved from one home to another.The statistics show that the average length of stay in a single residential care home in England that ended in a service users’ death was around 26 months, although this statistic does not include any previous stays in other homes.The published source is:http://www.pssru.ac.uk/archive/pdf/3211.pdf

Care Homes: Labour Turnover

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he plans to take to improve the recruitment and retention of care assistants in (a) nursing and (b) residential homes.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Department continues to work with our delivery partner, Skills for Care, to encourage recruitment into the sector, and to provide multiple entry points and attractive career pathways. The Department is also working to improve the domestic supply of nurses. This includes the development of new routes into nursing such as the new Nursing Associate role and the Nursing Degree Apprenticeship. The new Nursing Degree Apprenticeship once established could result in up to 1,000 domestic apprentice nurses each year.

Joint Replacements

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidelines his Department issues to hospitals and clinical commissioning groups on criteria for hip and knee replacements.

Steve Brine: The Department does not issue guidance to hospitals or clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) on the criteria for access to particular clinical services. NHS England provides guidance to CCGs which are primarily responsible for commissioning services to meet the requirements of their population. In doing so, CCGs need to ensure that the services they provide are fit for purpose, reflect the needs of the local population, and are based on the available evidence. CCGs should take national guidelines into account as they take commissioning decisions.It is the role of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and NHS England (alongside other arm’s length bodies) to issue guidance to CCGs, based on the latest evidence and expertise.

Prescription Drugs: Misuse

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the NHS guidelines are for rates of withdrawal for prescription drug addiction.

Steve Brine: There are no specific National Health Service guidelines that cover withdrawal from prescription drugs in general. However the recently-updated National Clinical Guidelines for Drug Misuse and dependence has specific guidance about pharmacological management of dependence on benzodiazepines and z-drugs, including prescribing regimens, detoxification, adjunctive therapies and monitoring. The guidelines are available at the link below:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/628634/clinical_guidelines_2017.pdf (starts at page 119) Addiction to prescribed and over the counter medicines is a concern and it is essential that people only take these medicines in accordance with advice from a health professional. People who feel that they might be dependent on either prescribed or over the counter medicines should seek help from a health professional in the first instance (such as a general practitioner or pharmacist). Local authorities are supported by Public Health England to develop tailored responses to existing and emerging drug misuse in their area and, in conjunction with the NHS, to address specific concerns about addiction to prescribed and over the counter medicines.

Medical Records: Disclosure of Information

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what (a) recent discussions he has had with Health ministers in the devolved governments and (b) progress has been made on ensuring full access to NHS patient records in all constituent parts of the UK.

Jackie Doyle-Price: There have been no recent discussions with devolved administrations on access to National Health Service patient records. Access to patient records in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is a matter for devolved administrations. General practitioner practices in England have been required to offer online access to their patients’ detailed coded records since 1 April 2016. This includes items such as allergies, adverse reactions, medications, test results, problems and diagnoses and immunisations.

Hospitals: Hygiene

Nigel Mills: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has to publish information on hospital hand hygiene compliance.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Department understands that NHS Improvement is looking into a means of capturing hand hygiene data and compliance within the National Health Service.

Sepsis

Nigel Mills: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he plans to take to support the 70th World Health Assembly's resolution on improving hand hygiene and the prevention, diagnosis and clinical management of sepsis.

Mr Philip Dunne: The United Kingdom supported the “Improving the prevention, diagnosis and clinical management of sepsis” resolution adopted by the World Health Organization at the 70th World Health Assembly in May 2017. The Health and Social Care Act 2008: Code of Practice on the prevention and control of infections and related guidance was updated in 2015. The Department published a revised code of practice setting good practice on hand hygiene compliance. The code is used by the Care Quality Commission for inspections of health and social care services in England and underpins their regulatory activities. The UK works with international partners to support initiatives in infection prevention and management.

Measles: Vaccination

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the immunisation rate is for measles; and what steps the Government is taking to improve measles immunisation coverage.

Steve Brine: Protection against measles is provided in the combination measles, mumps and rubella vaccine (MMR).The latest England vaccine coverage figures (January to March 2017) show that uptake of one dose of MMR vaccine at two years was 91.7% and at five years was 95.4%, exceeding the World Health Organisation’s elimination target. Uptake of two MMR doses at five years was 88.1%. In November 2016, a measles and rubella elimination strategy group was established to oversee the development of a United Kingdom-wide Measles and Rubella elimination strategy. This strategy will focus on sustaining very high coverage of MMR in children below five years of age and on providing opportunities for MMR catch-up to older population groups at risk for measles and/or rubella. Public Health England (PHE) continues to work with others to supply information for health professionals and the public on the benefits and risks associated with MMR. PHE and NHS England work closely with providers at a local level to target specific communities where uptake of the MMR vaccine is known to be poor.

Genetics: Screening

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has to issue technology guidelines to the new regional genetics laboratories in England on the storage of genetic data.

Jackie Doyle-Price: NHS England is currently preparing to procure a network of genomic laboratory hubs. A full service specification will be issued at the start of the formal procurement process that will set out the requirements for the future informatics and data infrastructure, including the storage of genetic data.

Genetics: Screening

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has for the future provision of genome testing in Newcastle following the decision to centralise genomic testing in Cambridge.

Jackie Doyle-Price: NHS England currently commissions genetic testing for National Health Service patients in England from 23 genetic laboratories. NHS England has no knowledge of the centralisation of funding for NHS genetic testing in Cambridge that is being referred to. Whole genome sequencing is being carried out in Cambridge by Illumina for the 100,000 Genomes Project.

Genetics: Screening

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of trends in the level of employment in (a) Cambridge and (b) the rest of the UK as a result of the decision to centralise genome testing in Cambridge.

Jackie Doyle-Price: NHS England has no knowledge of the decision to centralise all National Health Service genomic testing in Cambridge that is being referred to and therefore no assessment has been made. Whole genome sequencing is being carried out in Cambridge by Illumina for the 100,000 Genomes Project.

Coffee: Sugar

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with coffee companies on reformulating products to reduce their sugar content.

Steve Brine: Since March 2017, Public Health England (PHE) has instigated a specific programme of engagement with all of the food industry (retailers and manufacturers) and this has included businesses that provide the food purchased and consumed out of home (such as coffee and sandwich shops). This engagement has focussed on encouraging industry to reformulate products to reduce their sugar content, as part of the wider sugar reduction programme set out in ‘Childhood obesity: a plan for action'. The issues discussed at these meetings have included the expectation that businesses will undertake work to meet the 20% reduction in sugar by 2020, and has covered businesses’ achievements to date and discussion of any technical challenges faced in terms of making current and future changes. Further discussions will continue to take place over the coming months to ensure that these businesses play their role in helping to reduce sugar consumption. A list of PHE’s industry and other stakeholder engagement on this agenda was published in March and can be viewed here:www.gov.uk/government/publications/sugar-reduction-and-wider-reformulation-stakeholder-engagement Further updates on engagement will also be published at regular intervals.

Genetics: Screening

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what additional funding has been made available for the new regional genetic testing centres for IT infrastructure to exchange and store genetic testing data.

Jackie Doyle-Price: NHS England is currently preparing to procure a network of genomic laboratory hubs. A full service specification will be issued at the start of the formal procurement process that will set out the requirements for the future informatics infrastructure.

Genetics: Screening

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment has been made of the effect on local NHS services of centralising genomic testing in Cambridge.

Jackie Doyle-Price: NHS England has no knowledge of the decision to centralise all National Health Service genomic testing in Cambridge that is being referred to and therefore no assessment has been made. Whole genome sequencing is being carried out in Cambridge by Illumina for the 100,000 Genomes Project.

Department of Health: Buildings

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much his Department has paid in letting fees for its estate in each year since 2010.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Department has not paid any letting fees since 2010.

Diamorphine: Prescriptions

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether there are GPs in the Greater Manchester area who are licensed to dispense diamorphine on prescription.

Steve Brine: There are no such dispensing practices in Greater Manchester. In general, dispensing doctors, as well as community pharmacies, can dispense prescriptions for diamorphine, including those in the Greater Manchester area. Only those on the pharmaceutical list can do so under National Health Service pharmaceutical services. However, under the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 1997, if the diamorphine is for addiction the prescribing general practitioner and the dispensing doctor must hold a special licence issued by the Home Secretary.

Coeliac Disease: Food

Melanie Onn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to improve access to gluten-free food for people with coeliac disease.

Melanie Onn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he plans to maintain the availability of gluten-free prescriptions on the NHS.

Steve Brine: Staple gluten-free foods continue to be available on prescription for people with coeliac disease. We are in the process of making a decision on whether or not to make any changes to primary care prescribing of gluten-free foods following the recent public consultation.

NHS Shared Business Services

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the cost was of the administration of clinical correspondence backlog at NHS Shared Business Services; and how the costs will be met in each of the next five years.

Jackie Doyle-Price: As set out in the National Audit Office investigation of clinical correspondence handling at NHS Shared Business Services, the administration costs of the incident to the end of financial year 2016/17 was £6.6 million. £2.26 million of these costs have already been met by NHS Shared Business Services directly. A link to the report can be found here:https://www.nao.org.uk/report/investigation-clinical-correspondence-handling-at-nhs-shared-business-services/Discussions about the settlement of costs between NHS England and NHS Shared Business Services are ongoing.

Heroin: Greater Manchester

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the number of heroin addicts in the Greater Manchester area.

Steve Brine: Updated estimates of opiate and crack cocaine use in England, including estimates for each local authority, will be published on 27 September 2017.

Ambulance Services: Standards

Thelma Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what research his Department has conducted into the maximum time a patient should travel by road ambulance to the nearest hospital in an emergency.

Mr Philip Dunne: NHS England does not offer guidance on maximum travel time by road ambulance to the nearest hospital.NHS England is working hard with its partners to help develop ambulance services that act as mobile assessment and treatment services and to deliver a networked approach to urgent and emergency care services that ensures patients are treated in the facility best equipped to provide whatever care is needed. For some patients requiring specialist care, this may be in a hospital that is further away. For patients who have suffered severe injuries in an accident, paramedics use triage tools at the scene to determine the likely injuries and best hospital for treatment. If the patient requires treatment in a Major Trauma Centre, the ambulance (or helicopter) can travel up to one hour, bypassing other hospitals en route, to take them directly to a Major Trauma Centre, each of which has a 24/7 trauma team immediately available. A small number of patients are too sick to travel this long. These patients are transported to the nearest hospital that has facility to provide immediate life-saving interventions and, once stabilised, they have a second transfer to the Major Trauma Centre to receive definitive care. The major trauma system in England has been carefully and independently monitored since its national introduction in 2012 and has significantly increased the probability of survival for patients with severe injury.

Pharmacy

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will place in the Library a copy of the study jointly commissioned by his Department and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy from London Economics and Global Delta Collection Company on the factors which influence research and development and manufacturing investment by the pharmaceutical sector; what the cost was to the public purse of that study; and if he will make a statement.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Office for Life Sciences, a joint unit of the Department of Health and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, commissioned a report through UK Shared Business Service with tender number FWRECR16103 with a contract opportunity of £100,000. London Economics were the successful bidder. The report is not complete but we expect it to be published later this year. Life Sciences is an important sector of the United Kingdom economy, with over 5,000 companies employing 233,000 people. That is why we welcome the Life Science Industrial Strategy published on 30 August and look forward to working with those in the life sciences sector to consider the strategy in more detail and specifically what action can be taken forward, in partnership between Government and industry, through an ambitious Sector Deal.

Folic Acid

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the Government's policy is on the fortification of folic acid.

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the Government's policy is on the fortification of flour with folic acid.

Steve Brine: The Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition has recently updated the evidence on folic acid in response to a request from Food Standards Scotland, and reiterated its support for mandatory folic acid fortification, provided that this is introduced alongside restrictions on voluntary fortification of foods with folic acid. Ministers are currently considering the issue of mandatory fortification of flour and will respond in due course.

NHS: Reorganisation

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Minister of Health on 14 September 2016, Official Report, column 614, when he intends to undertake a full public consultation on Sustainability and Transformation Plans.

Steve Brine: Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships (STPs) are about local areas making decisions and ensuring National Health Service services are on a sustainable footing, and provide the best possible care for local people. It is for STPs to determine how best to engage and consult locally on their proposals and to make sure they comply with the relevant guidance around engagement and consultation, as set out in NHS England’s guide for local areas developing STPs. Individual organisations that constitute each of the 44 STP areas remain accountable to their local communities including for these activities performed as part of the STP. When there are proposals to substantially change services there is a longstanding duty for STPs to consult with their local community and there are rules to ensure this. NHS England and NHS Improvement have repeatedly reiterated this commitment to supporting STP areas to engage with their local communities, and have issued guidance outlining this. In September 2016 and following the debate on STPs, NHS England published “Engaging local people: A guide for local areas developing Sustainability and Transformation Plans”, available at:http://data.parliament.uk/DepositedPapers/Files/DEP2017-0062/engag_local_people_stps.pdf This document outlines the expectations on stakeholder involvement and in particular patient and public participation. The Government is clear that involving people, communities and stakeholders in developing STP plans is the right thing to do to ensure that the plans and their implementation are robust and meet the needs of people and communities.

Health Services: Procurement

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when  NHS England will publish the final terms of reference for NICE's Commissioning Support Programme; and whether these terms will be subject to a public consultation.

Steve Brine: NHS England has commissioned the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to undertake the Commissioning Support Programme for the development of new or revised clinical commissioning policies for prescribed services, in line with the published ‘Methods’ document, which set out how the Clinical Priorities Advisory Group would make future investment decisions. There is therefore not a separate Terms of Reference agreed. NHS England receives completed draft proposals from NICE at the point of consideration of their readiness for public consultation, and completes the remaining steps in the process for developing and considering potential new policies for adoption.

Rare Diseases

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what criteria NHS England's Rare Disease Advisory Group uses to determine the appropriateness of clinical evidence for rare disease treatments considered through the prioritisation process for specialised services.

Steve Brine: The role of the Rare Diseases Advisory Group (RDAG) is to make recommendations to the Clinical Priorities Advisory Group on which highly specialised services or technologies should be prioritised for investment; this includes services or technologies already commissioned and services and technologies that have not previously been commissioned. The terms of reference for RDAG set out that the committee, in undertaking its functions: - formulates its advice by calling on sources of sound evidence from outside the National Health Service, such as professional bodies, and recommends the commissioning of external assessment as necessary; - improves the effectiveness and transparency of its recommendations, by ensuring input from a wide range of clinical, commissioning and finance experts, as well as patients/carers and lay members; and by using a consistent decision-making process to develop recommendations; - streamlines the decision-making process by combining different sources of advice and by reducing the number of endorsement tiers required before the final decision; and - undertakes economic evaluation of proposals for services for rare diseases as necessary.

Health Services

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will publish the scheduled dates of the two rounds of NHS England's 2018-19 prioritisation process for specialised services.

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many policy proposals for new investments in specialised services NHS England is planning to consider as part of its 2018-19 prioritisation process for specialised services.

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether policy propositions for licensed medicinal products made by clinicians will be eligible for consideration as part of the second round of NHS England's 2018-19 prioritisation process for specialised services.

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what criteria NHS England will use in determining which new policy proposals will be considered as part of its 2018-19 prioritisation process for specialised services.

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what deadline NHS England has set for submissions of new policy proposals to be considered as part of the second round of its 2018-19 prioritisation process for specialised services.

Steve Brine: NHS England’s Clinical Priorities Advisory Group (CPAG) plans to meet in November 2017 and again in May 2018 to form its recommendations to NHS England’s Specialised Commissioning Oversight Group, which in turn makes recommendations to Specialised Services Commissioning Committee on funding for 2018/19. As part of the second round of its 2018/19 prioritisation process for specialised services NHS England's will consider all new or revised policy propositions eligible for consideration that have been developed in line with the published ‘Methods’ document, which sets out how CPAG would make future investment decisions. This approach ensures that policy proposals are developed by clinical leaders, reflect available evidence on clinical effectiveness, consider feedback from stakeholders and the public, and have been consistently costed to allow relative prioritisation. So far, nine policy proposals along with seven service specification proposals are currently scheduled for consideration at the November meeting of NHS England’s CPAG meeting. Policy propositions would need to be submitted by 9 October 2017 for consideration at the November Clinical CPAG meeting. The deadline for completed policy propositions for the planned May 2018 CPAG meeting has not yet been set. Any entirely new policy proposals would need to be considered as a potential service development for 2019/20. NHS England publishes details of the clinical commissioning policies being developed and/or revised. Further details on NHS England’s service development process and prioritisation process are available on NHS England’s website:https://www.england.nhs.uk/

Department of Health: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many procurements undertaken by his Department have taken more than (a) three months, (b) six months, (c) one year and (d) two years.

Mr Philip Dunne: Information, including the date at which an opportunity is advertised (published date) and the date at which the contract is awarded (Awarded date) can be found via ContractsFinder, the Government’s procurement gateway tool. This is available at:https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search Users should enter Department of Health into the Key Words search box, then choose ‘Awarded’ as far as ‘Notice status’, then finally choose the CSV download option.

NHS: Finance

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much funding from the public purse that was allocated to capital accounts in the NHS has been transferred to revenue accounts in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available.

Mr Philip Dunne: Figures are available from 2011-12 when the budgetary framework and Departmental group structure was changed as a result of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010.The transfers from the Department’s Capital Departmental Expenditure Limit (CDEL) to the Revenue Departmental Expenditure Limit (RDEL) are set out below. No transfers were made between 2011-12 and 2013-14.2014-15:- £640 million was transferred from the Department’s CDEL budget to the RDEL. 2015-16:- £950 million was transferred from the Department’s CDEL budget to the RDEL. 2016-17:- £1,200 million was transferred from the Department’s CDEL budget to the RDEL.

Department of Health: Disclosure of Information

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to promote whistleblowing in his Department and agencies.

Mr Philip Dunne: Within the Department the following steps are being taken to promote whistleblowing: - A ‘Values and Behaviours: Task and Finish Group’ has been established to review the culture within the Department, including reviewing online feedback and holding open discussion sessions with staff and trade unions;- The Department’s Executive Committee has discussed whistleblowing, reviewed a number of whistleblowing cases and discussed how to encourage a culture where ‘speaking out’ is embraced and the views expressed informed the work of both the Task and Finish Group and Human Resources. Following this, the Department has expanded the role of the Speak-out Adviser (Nominated Officer in other Government Departments) to include signposting to Bullying, Harassment and Discrimination and Grievance Policies in order to help individuals navigate policies and provide a route independent of the line management chain should individuals wish to talk to someone else;- A Communications/Engagement Strategy has been developed for whistleblowing, whereby senior officials will meet regularly with the Speak-out Advisors;- The Department is designing a dedicated Speak-out Adviser webpage with links and resources for support to health and wellbeing, relevant Human Resources policies and sources of support, with messages from the whistleblowing Speak-out Champion which will go live mid-September 2017; and- A number of Human Resources policies to clarify whistleblowing, grievance and bullying, harassment and discrimination process have also been updated by the Department.Within Medicines Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) the following steps are being taken to promote whistleblowing:- The agency has established a robust Nominated Officer Network which regularly meets to share best practice and increase whistleblowing awareness; and- The agency regularly reviews their whistleblowing cases and works with key personnel to identify improvements. This has resulted in strengthening their whistleblowing policy and procedure in February 2016, accompanied by a team briefing to all staff in February 2016. The MHRA Whistleblowing Strategy includes a series of planned campaigns, training and activities to increase awareness, which is fully supported with intranet messages from their Whistleblowing Champion.Within Public Health England (PHE) the following steps are being taken to promote whistleblowing:- PHE have established a network of ‘Speak Out’ Advisors across the organisation to encourage staff to raise concerns and publicised a new policy through a poster campaign across the PHE estate and on the intranet;- A direct channel to the Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee has been established for staff to use if they do not feel confident raising concerns internally with the senior management team or if the concerns is about the senior management team;- To further support staff and improve processes PHE have undertaken a focused piece of work in response to feedback in the 2016 Staff Survey on bullying and harassment; and- PHE have an agreement that each and every case will be reported to the Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee every quarter and that they will be kept updated on progress until case closure.

NHS: Conditions of Employment

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many NHS staff have had their Agenda for Change job grade re-evaluated in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will list the Agenda for Change job grades which have been re-evaluated in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Mr Philip Dunne: This information is not collected centrally. Evaluation of National Health Service job roles is a matter for local NHS employers. The NHS Job Evaluation Scheme applies to staff employed under the Agenda for Change pay framework. It is a national framework designed to ensure staff receive equal pay for work of equal value and is managed and delivered locally. Exceptionally, in December 2016, ambulance trade unions, ambulance trusts, the Department, NHS Employers, NHS England and NHS Improvement reached agreement on a national re-banding exercise, based on re-evaluation of the paramedic job profile given changes in the paramedic role, that will see eligible paramedics re-evaluated from pay band 5 (£22,128 up to £28,746 ) to pay band 6 (£26,525 up to £35,577). The re-banding exercise is ongoing. Job evaluation data is not held centrally.

Transvaginal Mesh Implants

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many patients were treated with a transvaginal mesh implant in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available.

Mr Philip Dunne: Data collected by the Hospitals Episode Statistics looks at the number of finished admission episodes (FAEs), rather than the individual visits. This could mean that an individual visited a hospital/hospitals on more than one occasion over one or many time frames.The following table sets out the count of FAEs for all procedures relating to the fitting of a Transvaginal Mesh or Tape Implant from 2006/07-2015/16.2006-072007-082008-092009-102010-112011-122012-132013-142014-152015-169,30215,94116,59616,34715,66815,09313,87913,39710,8348,931

Psychology: Work Experience

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department has carried out an equality impact assessment on the NHS offering unpaid internships in psychology.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Department has not undertaken an impact assessment on the National Health Service offering unpaid internships in psychology. The responsibility for and decision as to whether to offer internships rests with individual NHS trusts.

Paramedical Staff: Training

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the mental health training that paramedics receive.

Mr Philip Dunne: The College of Paramedics (CoP) Paramedic Evidence Based Education Project Report and Health Education England (HEE) found that paramedics could make a larger contribution to urgent and emergency care with enhanced knowledge and skills, including in dementia and mental health awareness. These new areas of enhanced knowledge and skills are included in the new edition of the CoP undergraduate paramedic curriculum. This curriculum must be used by all higher education institutions providing paramedic courses. HEE has continued to support and invest in this aspect of the paramedic skill base by funding and working alongside CoP to develop a suite of bitesize online continuing professional development modules for paramedics, including dementia and mental health awareness. The Paramedic Evidence Based Education Project Report can be found at:https://www.collegeofparamedics.co.uk/publications/paramedic-evidence-based-education-project-peep

Mental Health Services: Private Sector

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 6 September 2017 to Question 6693, where information is collected on the meetings his Department has had with private providers of mental health care.

Jackie Doyle-Price: For Ministers, along with other Government Departments, the Department adheres to transparent Government guidelines and publishes quarterly returns on Ministerial meetings with external organisations. The most recent data, for 2017, is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministerial-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-external-meetings-2017.For the Department as a whole, this information is not collected centrally.

Prisoners: Mental Illness

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many prisoners waited more than 14 days for a transfer to hospital under the Mental Health Act 1983 in the last 12 months.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The information is not available in the format requested. Information is collected on the number of transfers, not the number of individual prisoners who are transferred. An individual prisoner may undergo more than one transfer in any given time period.

Hospitals: Fire Extinguishers

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of regulations on sprinklers in hospitals.

Mr Philip Dunne: Health Technical Memorandum (HTM) 05-02: Firecode Guidance in support of functional provisions (fire safety in the design of healthcare premises) provides guidance on the minimum standards of fire safety expected in healthcare premises to comply with Part B of Schedule 1 of the Building Regulations 2010, including the use of automatic fire suppression where necessary. The guidance will be reviewed following the publication of the results of the Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety, which is being led by Dame Judith Hackitt in response to the Grenfell Tower incident.

Health Services: Liverpool

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the level of cost improvement expected from the current Liverpool core bundle process.

Steve Brine: NHS Improvement informs us that the income value of the Liverpool core bundle is the same in 2018/19 as 2017/18. Regarding provision of community services, the value of the contract for community health services in Liverpool for 2017/18 is £81.6 million. This matches the value of the contract for these services in 2016/17. NHS Improvement is currently going through a process to agree the future of Liverpool Community Health Trust, and it is anticipated that the bidders for the services will propose cost improvements.

Health Professions: Conditions of Employment

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what rules or guidance he provides to health commissioning organisations on staff of those organisations taking up employment with other organisations from which the commissioning organisation had commissioned products or services.

Steve Brine: Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) should take all reasonable steps to ensure that employees, committee members, contractors and others engaged under contract with them are aware of the requirement to inform the CCG if they are employed or engaged in, or wish to be employed or engaged in, any employment or consultancy work in addition to their work with the CCG (for example, in relation to new care model arrangements). The following principles and rules should be adhered to: - CCGs should require that individuals obtain prior permission to engage in outside employment, and reserve the right to refuse permission where it believes a conflict will arise which cannot be effectively managed; - Staff should declare any existing outside employment on appointment, and any new outside employment when it arises; - CCGs may also have legitimate reasons within employment law for knowing about outside employment of staff; even if this does not give rise to risk of a conflict. Nothing in this guidance prevents such enquiries being made. - CCGs should ensure that they have clear and robust organisational policies in place to manage issues arising from outside employment. In particular, it is unacceptable for pharmacy advisers or other advisers, employees or consultants to the CCG on matters of procurement to themselves be in receipt of payments from the pharmaceutical or devices sector.  - All CCGs have a statutory duty to follow this guidance and ensure that any person involved in making a decision on the contract award has no pecuniary interest. Guidance on managing conflicts of interest is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/revised-ccg-coi-guidance-jul-17.pdf - All staff National Health Service terms and conditions of service is available at the following link:http://www.nhsemployers.org/employershandbook/afc_tc_of_service_handbook_fb.pdf

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Warm Home Discount Scheme: Families

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of including low-income families with young children in the core group of those eligible for the Warm Home Discount.

Margot James: We recognise that low income families with children represent a significant proportion of households in fuel poverty. That is why the Broader Group of Warm Home Discount recipients is focused on working age households, including those with children. The Digital Economy Act will provide Government with the opportunity to help obligated energy suppliers to better target fuel poor households through data matching, including low income families.The Act received Royal Assent on 27 April 2017. The Regulations which will commence those powers are expected to come into force in spring 2018. It is the Department’s intention to consult on the future of the Warm Home Discount in 2018 and that the consultation will cover eligibility.

Energy: Meters

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the number of gas and electric meters replaced during the smart energy roll-out that are (a) sent to landfill and (b) refurbished and reused.

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many gas and electric meters replaced during the smart energy roll-out have been (a) put into landfill and (b) refurbished and made available for resale by (i) each approved meter installer and (ii) each meter asset manager.

Richard Harrington: No estimate has been made as to the number of gas and electric meters replaced during the smart meter rollout that are either sent to landfill, or refurbished and reused. However, reports for the amount of Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE) placed on the market and collected in the UK under the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/waste-electrical-and-electronic-equipment-weee-in-the-uk The Government is committed to ensuring that every home and small business in the country is offered a smart meter the end of 2020. Overall, the roll-out is set to deliver significant net benefits to consumers, estimated at £5.7 billion over the lifetime of the Programme, yielding £1.5 of savings for every £1 spent.

Energy: Prices

Liz Twist: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to introduce an energy price cap.

Margot James: My Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State has written to the Chief Executive of Ofgem asking him to advise on what action the regulator intends to take to safeguard consumers on the poorest value tariffs and to consider the future of standard variable tariffs. The Secretary of State will consider further action in the light of Ofgem’s proposals and remains prepared to legislate if necessary.

Tidal Power: Swansea Bay

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if the Government will publish a timetable for the announcement of its decision on the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon.

Richard Harrington: Holding answer received on 11 September 2017



The Government is considering the findings of the independent Hendry Review before deciding, in light of the relevant factors, its position on the proposed Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon project.

Energy: Private Rented Housing

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment the Government has made of the benefits (a) for tenants and (b) in terms of carbon emissions of raising the minimum energy efficiency standards for privately rented homes.

Richard Harrington: The Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property)(England and Wales) Regulations 2015 require all landlords of domestic privately rented property in England and Wales to ensure that, from 1 April 2018, their properties reach at least an energy performance rating of E before granting a tenancy to new or existing tenants, unless a prescribed exemption applies.Tenants would benefit from improved homes in the form of reduced energy bills. Data derived from the 2014 English Housing Survey shows that the average annual cost of heating an E rated home in the private rental sector to an adequate level is £510 cheaper than for an F rated private rented sector home, and £990 cheaper than for a G rated property. There would also be wider health and wellbeing benefits for tenants associated with increased comfort from warmer homes.The published impact assessment for the regulations estimated that effective implementation of the domestic provisions will save 1.8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent between 2013 and 2065.

District Heating: Regulation

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what regulations apply to district heating schemes to protect consumers.

Claire Perry: Holding answer received on 11 September 2017



The Heat Network (Metering and Billing) Regulations 2014 aims to bring benefits to heat network consumers by increasing the number of metered properties and providing more transparent metering and billing information. Under the regulations, heat suppliers are required to install meters and base bills on actual consumption, where it is cost effective and technically feasible to do so, and for all consumers they must clearly set out how the bill was calculated. Heat network customers are also covered by general consumer protection and competition law.We welcome the work of the heat network industry to bring in elements of self-regulation, by establishing the ‘Heat Trust’, an independent customer protection scheme that draws upon and seeks to set equivalent terms of service as offered to gas and electric customers. The industry has also developed a voluntary Code of Practice, which establishes minimum standards for the design, installation and operation of heat networks.

Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether any installations made under the non-domestic Renewable Heat Incentive scheme have been found to have been used for over 12 hours a day, seven days a week.

Claire Perry: Of the 16,496 installations (excluding biomethane) that have received a payment up to the end of July 2017, 342 installations have been used for more than 12 hours a day. This is on average over each plants lifetime on the Non-domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI). This has been assessed by looking at generation as a proportion of maximum capacity. This analysis only covers installations that have submitted meter readings to Ofgem and we do not have the data to assess this for a given day. Biomethane is excluded from this analysis as it does not have a capacity from which operating hours could be assessed.

Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme: Costs

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the average cost per kilowatt of capacity has been of installations made under the non-domestic Renewable Heat Incentive scheme.

Claire Perry: The Department has produced official statistics on the average cost per kilowatt of capacity for the Non-domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), split by technology, up to July 2017. Details can be seen: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/rhi-deployment-data-july-2017

Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many single applicants received subsidies for multiple installations under the non-domestic Renewable Heat Incentive scheme since its inception.

Claire Perry: This cannot be directly determined from the application data because we do not require applicants to indicate if they own another RHI installation.

Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many installations made under the non-domestic Renewable Heat Incentive scheme have been found to be non-compliant.

Claire Perry: To date Ofgem has identified 944 non-domestic Renewable Heat Incentive installations as being non-compliant.This figure includes non-compliances with or without a financial impact.

Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme: Boilers

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many businesses have had boilers installed under the non-domestic Renewable Heat Incentive scheme; and how many of those boilers will be inspected as part of the National Audit Office's study into that scheme.

Claire Perry: The Non-domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme offers support for a range of renewable heat technologies. As of end July 2017, there were 18,904 full applications to the Non-domestic RHI. The National Audit Office operates independently of the Department. As such, we are not able to comment on their fieldwork plans.

Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme: Fraud

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many cases of fraud have been brought by Ofgem under the (a) non-domestic and (b) domestic Renewable Heat Incentive schemes.

Claire Perry: To date the figures supplied by Ofgem are as follows; Action Fraud ReferralsOpen CasesClosed casesNon-Domestic RHI152143Domestic RHI91241

Fracking: Insolvency

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 6 July 2017 to Question 1697, what provisions and safeguards he has made to ensure that where a disused shale gas well needs decommissioning or maintenance and the company responsible is insolvent that the costs incurred do not fall to the taxpayer either locally or nationally.

Richard Harrington: The regulatory framework has provisions in place to ensure wells can be decommissioned with no need for on-going attention. As part of the petroleum licensing process, and prior to awarding a licence, the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) assesses whether a company has adequate financial capacity for its planned operations. The OGA also checks at the drilling and, where relevant, production stage that the company has sufficient funding and appropriate insurance. From the outset a shale gas operator is required to design and construct an oil and gas well with a view to its safe decommissioning. HSE specialist inspectors scrutinise these plans to ensure the well can be abandoned safely. At the end of the life of a well, The Offshore Installations and Wells (Design and Construction, etc.) Regulations 1996 requires all oil and gas wells to be abandoned in such a way that there can be no escape of fluids from the well or from the reservoir associated with it, so far as is reasonably practicable.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Females

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many and what proportion of the civil servants and advisors working on the industrial strategy are women.

Claire Perry: Holding answer received on 11 September 2017



The Industrial Strategy has been developed across Government, with many civil servants working directly or indirectly on it. Therefore we are unable to provide the figures requested without incurring disproportionate cost. An inclusive economic policy is of the highest importance to the success of the Industrial Strategy, my hon. Friend the Minister of State for Small Firms and I have engaged with a broad range of stakeholders, including women’s organisations, to ensure that we could understand and consider key issues.

Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, in which month in 2017 he plans to reintroduce the Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme Regulations 2017.

Claire Perry: The Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme and Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2017 were laid before Parliament on 30 August 2017. These regulations are due to come in force on 20 September 2017, subject to parliamentary process. Further reforms outlined in the Government response in December 2016 will be implemented in due course, subject to Parliamentary process.

Green Investment Bank

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what his policy is on circumstances in which the special share in the Green Investment Bank (GIB) held by the Green Purposes Company Ltd can be used to approve or reject changes to GIB's green purposes as set out in the objects of its Articles of Association.

Claire Perry: Following the sale of the Green Investment Bank (GIB), should the company wish to amend, remove or alter the green objective within the objects of its Articles of Association, it must seek written approval from the Green Purposes Company Limited (GPC), which holds a special share in GIB (now called the Green Investment Group (GIG)). The five trustees of GPC, who are independent of Government and the GIG, will form a judgement on the proposed amendment, and will either approve or reject the change to ensure that the green mission of the GIG is not weakened.

Energy: Housing

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the Government has a target date by which all homes in England and Wales should attain a particular energy performance standard.

Claire Perry: We have laid regulations that mean that from April 2018 all private domestic and non-domestic landlords will need to ensure that their properties reach at least an EPC E rating before granting a tenancy to new or existing tenants. The fuel poverty target also commits the government to ensuring that as many fuel poor households as is reasonably practicable achieve a minimum energy efficiency rating of Band C by 2030.

Solar Power: Redundancy

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the number of job losses in the UK solar sector since April 2015; and if he will make a statement.

Richard Harrington: Solar PV is a UK success story, with rapid deployment over last the 5 years. However, support for solar comes directly from consumer bills; as costs fall, it is vital that we control the impact on bills and move towards subsidy-free solar deployment. We recognise the efforts that the solar industry is making to adapt to the revised Feed-in-Tariff (FIT) scheme. It is too early to assess the impact of the policy changes, but there are promising signs, with more than 160MW of solar deployed under the revised FIT scheme. Many of those who work in solar are also skilled in other building trades, and will move between these with changes in demand. We expect that solar deployment will increase further as costs continue to fall.

Solar Power: Feed-in Tariffs

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many domestic solar installations have been completed under the Feed-in Tariff scheme in 2017; and how many domestic solar installations there were in each of the preceding five years.

Richard Harrington: The table below shows how many domestic solar installations were completed, and receiving Feed in Tariffs (FiTs), from 2012 to June 2017*.YearNumber of domestic solar installations completed, and receiving Feed in Tariffs2012149,755201389,8002014118,5762015155,227201631,9662017 (to June 2017)4,770Source: Ofgem Feed in Tariff installations report, 30 June 2017, available at:https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications-and-updates/feed-tariff-installation-report-30-june-2017* Due to lags in the accreditation process (typically of several months), there are likely to be many more schemes completed in the first six months of 2017 that are awaiting accreditation on FiTs.

Foreign Companies: Procurement

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate the Government has made of the number of foreign companies which use local content in their supply chain; and if he plans to incentivise such companies to use such content.

Margot James: The balance of imported to domestically produced content in supply chains is a commercial matter for the companies concerned.Through our Industrial Strategy, the government will set out the conditions for all companies to succeed, including those in UK supply chains. Domestic suppliers benefit from investment in a skilled workforce, clear simple regulation and a competitive tax regime, with the aim of making UK businesses producing such content as competitive as possible.

Money Laundering

Dame Margaret Hodge: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he plans to take to ensure UK entities cannot be used as shell companies for money laundering in light of recent allegations against prominent Azerbaijanis.

Margot James: The UK has implemented a series of reforms since 2015 aimed at increasing the transparency of UK incorporated legal persons and arrangements, and preventing their misuse for illicit purposes. These reforms include, but are not limited to, the introduction of the publicly accessible People with Significant Control Register; the abolition of bearer shares; the introduction of a register of trusts with tax generating consequences; the introduction of Unexplained Wealth Orders; and the introduction of the HMRC register of Trust or Company Service Providers. It is too early to measure the impact of many of these reforms, but we expect these measures to make a significant difference to the prevention of the misuse of companies and trusts, and assist law enforcement in their investigations where misuse does occur.

Ministry of Defence

Ministry of Defence: Brexit

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what contingency planning has been conducted by his Department in the event that no deal is reached on the UK leaving the EU.

Mark Lancaster: A future partnership between the UK and EU is in the interests of both sides, and we have entered into the negotiations anticipating success. However, since the result of the referendum, we have taken the responsible approach to work at pace to build a detailed understanding of how withdrawing from the EU will affect policies and services for a range of outcomes, including the unlikely scenario in which no mutually satisfactory agreement can be reached. Given the long lead-in times to implement some of our contingency measures, we can't wait until we see the final outcome of the negotiations to begin our preparations. But implementing the first stages of contingency plans now should not be interpreted as an expectation that talks with the EU will not be successful, but recognised instead as the actions of a responsible government determined to ensure a smooth exit under any eventuality.

Cyprus: Military Bases

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what information his Department holds on illegal killing of wild birds on the sovereign bases on Akrotiri and Dhekelia.

Mark Lancaster: The Secretary of State for Defence is responsible for the Sovereign Base Areas (SBAs) of Akrotiri and Dhekelia. The SBA Administration holds and exchanges information with relevant authorities in the Republic of Cyprus and Non-Government Organisations on illegal bird trapping activity in the SBAs; this includes detailed analysis and maps of those sites forming part of Special Areas of Conservation and numbers of arrests and seizures of bird trapping equipment that take place in the SBAs.The SBAs in Cyprus are covered by the Bern convention on the conservation of European wildlife and natural habitats and adhere to its provisions. The Bern Convention and SBA Legislation require the SBA Administration to report on the effectiveness of conservation measures taken to maintain the favourable conservation status of designated habitats. This includes information and records on removal of bird trapping paraphernalia.

Defence Equipment: Audit

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department has taken to audit deactivated (a) vehicles and (b) military hardware.

Harriett Baldwin: All equipment sold by the Ministry of Defence for commercial sale is, where appropriate, demilitarised. Consequently, there is no requirement to carry out an audit.

Ministry of Defence: Buildings

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has paid in letting fees for its estate in each year since 2010.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Department does not hold the breakdown of information concerning the letting fees paid for its estate in each year since 2010. The Department is unable to produce these figures as they are not readily identifiable from the total accommodation budget.

Devonport Dockyard

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress his Department has made on the construction of a dry dock at Devonport for the Astute class submarine.

Harriett Baldwin: The Ministry of Defence is undertaking work to define the future infrastructure requirements to support the Astute Class at Devonport.

Civil Servants: Reserve Forces

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which Departments have participated in the reservist challenge since it was launched in 2013.

Mark Lancaster: The Civil Service Reserves Challenge was launched in March 2014 by the former Head of the Civil Service, Sir Bob Kerslake. Its aim is to drive the recruitment of volunteer reservists from within the Civil Service and to show the Civil Service as an exemplar employer of reservists to other employers. The following Government Departments and organisations are engaged with the Challenge:Attorney General's OfficeCabinet OfficeDepartment for Business, Energy and Industrial StrategyDepartment for Culture, Media and SportDepartment for Digital, Communities and Local GovernmentDepartment for EducationDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsDepartment for Exiting the European UnionCore Department of HealthDepartment for International DevelopmentDepartment for International TradeDepartment for TransportDepartment for Work and PensionsForeign & Commonwealth OfficeForestry CommissionGovernment Actuary's DepartmentHM Revenue & CustomsHM TreasuryHome OfficeMarine Management OrganisationMinistry Of DefenceMinistry of JusticeUK Statistics AuthorityAs at 1 July 2017 there are 1,565 Civil Servant reservists, which is a rise of 213 since July 2016, and an increase of 16% over the year.

Armed Forces: Parachuting

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many military personnel were injured in parachuting accidents in the last year for which figures are available.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: For the period 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2016 Defence Statistics identifed 94 recorded occurrences of UK Armed Forces personnel being injured in parachuting incidents.During this time period there was, in addition, one recorded death of a UK Armed Forces person as a result of a parachuting accident.The safety Service Inquiry Report into this tragic accident has been published and is in the public domain. It can be found on www.gov.uk.Figures are for UK Service personnel (Regular and 'on duty' Reservist) excluding civilians and cadets, and represent incidents occurring in the UK and abroad.These figures include military, adventurous training and sports parachuting activities.

Ministry of Defence: Buildings

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has received from sub-lets on its estate in each year since 2010.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The amount received from sub-leasing since 2010 is shown in the following table:  Financial YearFinal Outturn 2009-10£520,443.372010-11£413,714.372011-12£707,304.812012-13£559,271.962013-14£607,607.342014-15£848,222.762015-16£918,477.492016-17£1,197,069.582017-18 – (To 31 August 2017)£729,856.18

Department for Communities and Local Government

Department for Communities and Local Government: Research

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, which research reports his Department commissioned from external bodies between December 2014 and June 2017 have not been published; when each such report was commissioned; what the nature of the research commissioned for each such report was; from whom each such research report was commissioned; what the value of each such commission was; on what date each such report was received by his Department; for what reason each such report has not yet been published; and when he plans to publish each such report.

Mr Marcus Jones: My department commissions research on an ad-hoc basis. This research is often to inform internal policy development and so will not always be published. We keep the publication of such research under review.

Local Government: Licensing

Lucy Allan: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions he has had with local authorities on the effectiveness of selective licensing.

Alok Sharma: The Government has had discussions with local authorities who have applied to the Department for confirmation of their selective licensing schemes.   We have received a number of applications since changes to selective licensing were introduced in April 2015 and a review will be started later this year.

Local Plans: Leeds

Alec Shelbrooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what mechanisms are available to his Department to require Leeds City Council to review its Local Plan to take into account the Council's own downward revision of its housing target before it reaches public inquiry.

Alok Sharma: Under the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), local planning authorities should ensure that any Plan they produce is based on adequate, up-to-date and relevant evidence. This is tested by the independent Planning Inspector, during the statutory examination of a Plan.The 2017 White Paper: Fixing our broken housing market, also set out the scope of Government powers and criteria for making decision on whether to intervene in local plan-making in exceptional circumstances.

Landlords: Licensing

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effect of borough-wide licensing schemes in tackling criminal landlords.

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effect of borough-wide licensing schemes on improving the standard and safety of accommodation in the private rented sector.

Alok Sharma: Licensing is an effective tool when used in a targeted fashion to deliver improved standards and safety in the private rented sector in specific areas that are suffering from serious problems.Under Part 3 of the Housing Act 2004, local authorities are able to introduce a selective licensing scheme in defined areas to tackle problems such as deprivation, high crime and poor property conditions.Any scheme submitted to the Secretary of State for confirmation will be considered on its merits and whether it meets the statutory requirements in Part 3 of the Housing Act 2004.

High Rise Flats: Fire Prevention

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if his Department will require the Building and Research Establishment to (a) report measurement of smoke development and smoke toxicity from the recent post-Grenfell Tower tests it has conducted and (b) publish all past test information results it holds.

Alok Sharma: Smoke development and smoke toxicity is not a feature of either the screening or large-scale tests conducted for DCLG, so was not measured.Following a request from DCLG, the Building Research Establishment (BRE) agreed to contact customers for whom they had carried out large-scale testing previously. If a customer gives permission, the BRE provides summary details of the test on their website (www.bre.co.uk/regulatory-testing).

Children: Housing

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to page 18 of the Social Mobility Commission's report, Time for Change: an assessment of government policies on social mobility 1997-2017, published on 28 June 2017, what assessment he has made of the effect of poor housing conditions on child development.

Alok Sharma: Good housing plays a very important role in helping children develop and reach their full potential. All homes should be of a reasonable standard and everyone should have a safe place to live. In rented housing, the Government is committed to ensuring tenants enjoy decent standards and receive a service which represents value for money for their rent. Local authorities have strong and effective powers to deal with poor quality, unsafe accommodation.

High Rise Flats: Fires

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with his counterpart in Dubai on the fire at 34 Tamweel Tower, Jumeirah Lakes, Dubai, in 2012.

Alok Sharma: Later this month the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) are coordinating a visit from Major General Matrooshi, the Commander in Chief of the UAE Civil Defence in Dubai who has responsibility for fire safety, to discuss approaches to fire safety in Dubai and exchange best practice. This visit will be attended by officials from a number of Departments, including the Home Office and DCLG.

Housing: Insulation

Ronnie Cowan: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department takes to ensure that the sale and installation of narrow-cavity, low-sightline glass-sealed units into heritage windows is compliant with the Construction Products Regulations 2013.

Alok Sharma: These units are covered by a harmonized European product standard (EN 1279-5) and so the Construction Products Regulation (EU 305/2011) applies to their manufacture, import and distribution. This regulation sets requirements for placing construction products onto the market, not their installation.Monitoring compliance and enforcement duties fall to trading standards bodies in England, Scotland and Wales and District Councils in Northern Ireland.

Help to Buy Scheme

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many people have purchased a property through a Help to Buy scheme in (a) North Swindon constituency, (b) Swindon local authority and (c) the UK since the inception of that scheme.

Alok Sharma: Help to Buy: Equity Loan, for which this Department is responsible, began in April 2013. Since then, (a) 517 households have purchased a property through the scheme in North Swindon constituency, (b) 1,023 in Swindon local authority and (c) 120,864 in England.Other people will have been helped into home ownership through shared ownership schemes from housing associations.HM Treasury is responsible for Help to Buy: ISA and Help to Buy: mortgage guarantee, which closed to new loans on 31 December 2016. Help to Buy: ISA is available across the UK, as was Help to Buy: mortgage guarantee.The Scottish and Welsh Governments respectively are responsible for Help to Buy (Scotland) and Help to Buy (Wales). Northern Ireland also operates some Government home ownership schemes, but they are not Help to Buy schemes.

First Time Buyers: Greater London

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the range of starter homes available in (a) Stratford and (b) other London boroughs for families of varying age profile, financial security and current and planned future size.

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the availability of the range of (a) starter and (b) other homes for families in (i) Stratford and (ii) other London boroughs.

Alok Sharma: As our Housing White Paper Fixing Our Broken Housing Market emphasised, the Government is committed to ensuring there is a range of affordable homes to support people into home ownership. This includes starter homes exclusively for first-time buyers over the age of 23 and under 40 at a minimum 20 per cent discount on their market value.We have already consulted on amending the National Planning Policy Framework to introduce a clear policy expectation that suitable housing sites should deliver a minimum of 10 per cent affordable home ownership units. It will be for local planning authorities to work with developers to agree an appropriate level of delivery of starter homes, alongside other affordable home ownership and rented tenures, on these sites reflecting their local circumstances.

Housing: Construction

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many small housebuilding companies there were in the UK (a) in the most recent period for which figures are available, (b) 1997 and (d) 1987.

Alok Sharma: There is no central government register for recording the total number of small house building companies in the UK.

Buildings: Fire Prevention

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of (a) building regulations concerning fire safety and (b) fire safety guidance for commercial and domestic planning applications used by fire services and local authorities' planning departments.

Alok Sharma: The Government will consider these issues in light of the Independent Review on Building Regulations and Fire Safety, the findings of the Public Inquiry and ongoing work to review building safety.

High Rise Flats: Fire Prevention

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment has been made of the fire resistance of residential tower blocks that are (a) under construction or (b) due to begin construction soon in light of the Grenfell Tower fire.

Alok Sharma: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Social Rented Housing: Fire Alarms

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to publish new advice and regulations on the installation of mandatory fire alarms in communal areas of public housing.

Alok Sharma: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

High Rise Flats: Fire Extinguishers

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what plans his Department has to require sprinklers to be installed inside all tower blocks, including in privately-owned tower blocks in (a) Wolverhampton and (b) England.

Alok Sharma: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

HM Treasury

Debts

Catherine West: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if his Department will respond to the recommendations of the Citizens Advice Bureau report, Stuck in Debt, on forcing lenders to scrap unarranged overdraft fees, prohibiting lenders from increasing a credit limit without a customer's permission, offering financial advice and making debt plans legally enforceable.

Stephen Barclay: The Government is committed to tackling the causes of problem debt, and is aware of the Citizens Advice report, although it is not the practice to respond directly to such reports. The Government has fundamentally reformed regulation of the consumer credit market, transferring regulatory responsibility from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on 1 April 2014. This more robust regulatory system is delivering the Government’s vision for a well-functioning and sustainable consumer credit market which is able to meet consumers’ needs. Since the transfer, the FCA has taken a proactive approach on consumer credit, including overdrafts, to ensure that all consumers who use high-cost credit products are treated fairly. As a result of its Credit Card Market Study, the FCA has also taken action to tackle persistent debt in the credit card market. As part of this, the industry has also developed a voluntary agreement to give greater control to customers and to restrict offers of credit limit increases. The Government also believes that consumers need free at the point of use help with their finances. In the Queen’s Speech, the Government announced the Financial Guidance and Claims Bill. This will legislate to restructure the financial guidance landscape and bring debt advice, money guidance, and pensions guidance together in a single body, and give consumers better access to the financial information they need. This Bill is currently going through Parliament.

Debts

Catherine West: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to reduce levels of unsecured debt.

Stephen Barclay: The government established an independent Financial Policy Committee (FPC), giving the FPC a primary objective to identify, monitor and take action to remove or reduce systemic risks with a view to protecting and enhancing financial stability. The FPC’s June 2017 Financial Stability Report (FSR), published on 27 June, assesses recent trends in unsecured debt in the consumer credit market. The FSR notes that consumer credit has been growing rapidly, but that loss rates on consumer credit lending are low at present. The June FSR announced that the FPC will: bring forward its assessment of stressed losses on consumer credit lending in the Bank’s 2017 annual stress test; and support the Prudential Regulation Authority and Financial Conduct Authority in their intention to publish their expectations of lenders in the consumer credit market.

Public Sector: Pay

Justin Madders: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to end public sector pay restraint in the Autumn Budget 2017.

Elizabeth Truss: I set out the Government’s current position on public sector pay in the House of Commons on 12 September 2017. A copy of those exchanges is available at: http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2017-09-12/HCWS127

Economic Situation

Tom Brake: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of jobs at risk of being lost in the UK economy as a result of no deal being reached on the UK leaving the EU.

Stephen Barclay: The Government has undertaken a significant amount of work to assess the economic and fiscal impacts of leaving the EU. This is part of our continuing programme of rigorous and extensive analytical work covering a range of scenarios on a sector by sector basis. We are seeking the best possible deal for the United Kingdom and the work being done reflects this.

Life Insurance

Thelma Walker: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what research his Department has conducted into the readability of the terms and conditions set out in life insurance policies.

Thelma Walker: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that the terms and conditions of insurance policies are drafted in plan English to facilitate consumer understanding.

Stephen Barclay: The readability of the terms and conditions set out in life insurance policies falls within the remit of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). As such, HM Treasury has not conducted research into this topic. The FCA is the UK’s conduct of business regulator and is an independent public body. The FCA has confirmed that it will provide a written response to the Member’s question. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Cash Dispensing: Non-domestic Rates

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 17 July 2017 to Question 4658, whether the Government carried out any research or assessment before deciding to levy business rates on cash machines; and for what reasons and by whom that decision was taken to levy those rates.

Mel Stride: The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) is responsible for assessing Rateable Values for business rates. Since Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) came into existence, the VOA has separately assessed sites for them wherever a) it is aware of them and b) they meet the test of being in rateable occupation under the relevant legislation and case law.

Taxation: Football

Charlie Elphicke: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what potential effect treating payments to employees derived from image rights as earnings subject to taxation would have on the public purse.

Mel Stride: Payments made by an employer for an employee’s image rights are taxable and the appropriate treatment has been set out in guidelines by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). The guidance is clear that payments that are, in reality, earnings cannot be treated as image rights payments. HMRC enforces the image rights rules and has a project looking specifically at compliance risks in football to ensure that football clubs, players, managers and agents pay the correct amount of tax. Since 2014-15 HMRC has brought in over £260m by tackling non-compliance in football.

Excise Duties: Fuels

Charlie Elphicke: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on the economy of a reduction in UK fuel duty to (a) the EU average, (b) an equivalent rate to that used in France and (c) an equivalent rate to that used in Luxembourg; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Jones: The government has made no assessment of the impact of reducing fuel duty rates to these levels. At current exchange rates, the UK fuel duty rate on petrol is already lower than that applied in France.

Excise Duties: Fuels

Charlie Elphicke: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the fuel duty differential between the UK and each of the other 27 member states of the EU has been for each of the last five years for which data is available.

Andrew Jones: The European Commission collates figures for fuel duty from each of the Member States once a year. Information on fuel duty rates over the past 5 years can be found at the following links. While fuel duty is levied in local currency, the EC figures convert these into euros, using the prevailing exchange rates at the date of publication. 2017: https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/sites/taxation/files/resources/documents/taxation/excise_duties/energy_products/rates/excise_duties-part_ii_energy_products_en.pdf 2016: https://circabc.europa.eu/sd/a/58bf9e30-7bdd-4a29-9bb2-4a62c542f1d1/EDT-Ref%201045%20(II-Energy)%20-%20January%202016.pdf2015: https://circabc.europa.eu/sd/a/bba65b10-5803-41f6-abd5-9be8490d36b6/EDT-Ref%201042%20(II-Energy)%20-%20January%202015 2014: https://circabc.europa.eu/sd/a/f52da286-1c43-401e-bbb8-11132b349880/II-Energy_July2014%20final.pdf 2013: https://circabc.europa.eu/sd/a/ee2fb487-3c8c-468e-80f7-e89393a4477a/II-Energy_January2013_final.pdf

Stamp Duties

Royston Smith: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many homebuyers have been exempt from stamp duty in the last five years.

Mel Stride: Statistics on the number of residential property transactions for the last five years which were not liable for SDLT, because they were either below the £125,000 minimum threshold, or claimed a relief, are published in the Quarterly Stamp Duty Statistics, table 4.https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/quarterly-stamp-duty-statistics

Revenue and Customs: Redundancy

Jon Trickett: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people who left HM Revenue and Customs under exit schemes since 31 March 2016 were (a) men and (b) women.

Mel Stride: Between 31 March 2016 and 31 August 2017, 290 men and 569 women left HM Revenue and Customs under exit schemes.

Treasury: Sign Language

Bill Esterson: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department takes to provide (a) information on its services in British Sign Language (BSL) and (b) correspondence in BSL to people whose principal language is BSL.

Andrew Jones: All Treasury publications contain a statement and contact details on how to obtain information in alterative formats or how to make enquiries about HM Treasury and its work. This commitment includes providing information and responses in British Sign Language (BSL) if requested to so.

Taxation: Domicil

John Redwood: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the tax paid by non-doms in the UK in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2016-17.

Mel Stride: A total of around £9.3 billion was paid in income tax, capital gains tax and national insurance contributions by non-domiciled taxpayers in the tax year 2013-14. This information and further details on non-domiciled taxpayers can be found in Table 1 of ‘Statistics on Non-domiciled Taxpayers in the UK,’ on the gov.uk website (https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/640900/Statistic_tables_on_non-domiciled_UK_taxpayers.pdf). Information on tax paid by non-domiciled taxpayers is collected through the self-assessment tax form. Data for 2016-17 is currently unavailable because the filing deadline of 31/01/2018 for 2016-17 self-assessment returns has not yet passed.

Economic Growth

John Redwood: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what annual growth rate results from (a) 0.2 per cent growth in Q1, (b) 0.6 per cent in Q2, (c) 0.6 per cent in Q3 and (d) 0.7 per cent in Q4.

Stephen Barclay: Annual growth rates are calculated from the annual average level of a variable. The independent Office for National Statistics publish the official estimates of UK GDP growth. The latest information can be found here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/grossdomesticproductgdp/timeseries/ihyp/pn2

Treasury: Staff

Kirsty Blackman: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of staff in his Department are (a) female, (b) BAME and (c) part time; and what proportion of the staff in his Department who received an annual performance award were in each of those categories in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

Andrew Jones: The proportion of staff in his Department which are (a) female, (b) BAME and (c) part time can be found in the link below:-https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/publicsectorpersonnel/datasets/civilservicestatisticsdatasummarytool The proportion of the staff in his Department who received an annual performance award in each of those categories above for the last three years can be found in the table below:- Box 1 Performance Award as percentage each diverse group in scope (Award is limited to 25% of staff) FemaleBAMEPart-time2014/1554%16%6%2015/1651%16%6%2016/1752%19%5% *Please note:- SCS are not included in the above table as they appraised by a separate Performance Management system set by the Cabinet Office. Also box mark 1 is only available to the top 25% of staff.

Financial Services

Bill Esterson: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 5 September 2017 to Question 6054, on financial services, if he will make an assessment of the level of lending through (a) banks and (b) peer-to-peer providers to small and medium-sized businesses; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Barclay: The British Business Bank published an assessment of the level of lending through banks and peer-to-peer providers to small and medium-sized businesses in its report on Small Business Finance Markets in February 2017. The report can be found at http://british-business-bank.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/BBB-SBFM-REPORT-2016-17-web.pdf The Government also monitors the Bank of England’s Money and Credit statistical releases and other statistical publications.

Crowdfunding

Bill Esterson: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 5 September 2017 to Question 6055, on crowdfunding, how much of the £120 million channelled by the British Business Bank to UK businesses through peer-to-peer platforms has been allocated to businesses which employ fewer than (a) 50 and (b) 10 people.

Stephen Barclay: We do not currently collect data on 'employee number' from delivery partners who provide peer-to-peer lending. We are unable to obtain robust data because it is not included in the mandatory information required by some peer-to-peer delivery partners when lending through their platforms. However, by their very nature, the vast majority of lending will be to organisations that have less than 50 employees.

Crowdfunding

Bill Esterson: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 5 September 2017 to Question 6053, on crowdfunding, what estimate he has made of the volume of peer-to-peer lending which would provide competition to the marketplace.

Stephen Barclay: The Government believes that the peer-to-peer (P2P) lending sector already provides competition to the lending marketplace, and welcomes the strong growth of the industry. The Government has supported the sector through implementing a proportionate, principles based regime for P2P lending that balances the need for consumer protection with allowing the sector to grow and evolve.

Capability and Innovation Fund

Bill Esterson: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 5 September 2017 to Question 6052, what proportion of the £425 million Capability and Innovation Fund will be made available to (a) challenger banks and (b) other financial services providers.

Stephen Barclay: The £425 million Capability and Innovation Fund is made up of 15 separate awards that eligible challenger banks and other financial service providers can compete for. These awards will range from £5 million to £120 million. We will be releasing further details on the Capability and Innovation Fund once the European Commission have announced their final decision.

Crowdfunding

Bill Esterson: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 5 September 2017 to Question 6051, what estimate he has made of the additional costs to (a) lenders and (b) business customers that would be created by setting rules on the level of business lending allowed through non-bank finance providers.

Stephen Barclay: The Government has not made an estimate of the additional costs to lenders or business customers that would be created by setting rules on the level of business lending allowed through non-bank finance providers. The Government monitors the level of business lending through both bank and non-bank finance providers, working with both the British Business Bank and the financial regulators.

Department for International Trade

Exports: Scotland

Stephen Kerr: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what programmes his Department provides to small and medium-sized businesses in Scotland to support the expansion of export sales.

Mark Garnier: The Department for International Trade provides support to businesses in all four nations of the Union, through programmes like the Overseas Market Information Service and via the High Value Campaigns. In addition, our digital platform GREAT.GOV.UK provides access to millions of pounds’ worth of business opportunities; and provides a searchable export directory to match businesses. UK Export Finance (UKEF) offers finance and credit insurance to Scottish businesses to ensure no viable export fails. UKEF has Export Finance Managers based in Scotland to help businesses get paid for their overseas sales.

Trade Agreements: Nigeria

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how the Government plans to strengthen and promote its trade and investment relationship with Nigeria.

Mark Garnier: The Department for International Trade (DIT) has regular discussions with the Nigerian Government on trade. We work to improve the business environment and increase business confidence, to promote long-term growth and a diversified economy. The Prime Minister's Trade Envoy to Nigeria visits regularly as part of HMG's coordinated activity to promote our trade and prosperity priorities. My Rt hon Friends the Foreign Secretary and Secretary of State for International Development emphasised the UK’s commitment to strengthen bilateral trade ties further during their recent visit to Nigeria. DIT is organising infrastructure and agribusiness trade missions to the UK in October to highlight opportunities in these sectors.

Department for International Trade: Buildings

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how much his Department has paid in letting fees for its estate in each year since 2010.

Greg Hands: The Department for International Trade has paid no letting fees since it was created in July 2016.

Exports: Stirling

Stephen Kerr: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many businesses in Stirling constituency are engaged with his Department in promoting their export sales.

Mark Garnier: The Department for International Trade (DIT) does not publish export data on a constituency or a country level. Nevertheless, DIT can identify that Scottish companies have used DIT export support programmes including the Tradeshow Access Programme, services accessed through the great.gov.uk digital platform, activities in the High Value Campaigns and commissioned Overseas Market Information Services. Companies such as Alexander Dennis have also utilised UK Export Finance support such as their recent contract to supply buses to Mexico.

Department for International Trade: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many procurements undertaken by his Department have taken more than (a) three months, (b) six months, (c) one year and (d) two years.

Greg Hands: In line with Government Policy for best practice in public sector procurement, the Department for International Trade Commercial Function seeks to undertake procurements as efficiently as possible, to minimise resources used both on Government and supplier side. Since the creation of the Department for International Trade in June 2016, the Commercial Function has logged 23 procurements with values above the £106,047 threshold, for advertising in the Official Journal of the European Union. Of these: two have taken over three months to procure, one has taken over six months to procure and one has taken over one year to procure. The duration of the procurement is measured from issuing the invitation to tender to awarding the contract.

Women and Equalities

Elections: Discrimination

Cat Smith: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what discussions the Government Equalities office has had with the Equality and Human Rights Commission on efforts to address discrimination during election campaigns.

Nick Gibb: In 2014, the Government Equalities Office had several discussions with the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) about updating its 2009 Election Guidance in time for the 2015 election. The EHRC subsequently issued guidance in March 2015. The guidance was revised and reissued more recently prior to the 2017 local and general elections. The updated guidance is provided in the link below:https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/publication-download/equality-and-human-rights-law-during-election-period-guidance-local-authorities

Homosexuality

Christian Matheson: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what the Government's policy is on conversion therapy.

Nick Gibb: The Government does not recognise ‘gay conversion therapy’ as a legitimate treatment. We have already worked with the main registration and accreditation bodies for psychotherapy and counselling practitioners, including the UK Council for Psychotherapy, to develop a Memorandum of Understanding to end this practice.The Government are not aware of widespread instances of gay conversion therapy happening in the UK but we want to develop a better understanding of the extent to which it is being practised. That is why we included questions on this topic in our national LGBT survey, which was launched this summer.We will publish the survey results and our response in the new year.

Department for Transport

Road Traffic Act 1988: Cycling

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will bring forward legislative proposals to amend the Road Traffic Act 1988 to ensure that cyclists are bound by that legislation.

Jesse Norman: Protecting pedestrians and all road users is a key priority. We have some of the safest roads in the world but are always looking at ways to make them safer.There are road traffic offences already that apply to cyclists, but the Department is carefully considering the implications of the recent tragic case of Mrs Briggs, who died after a collision with a cyclist, including as to whether current legislation is adequate.

Government Communication Service: Staff

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many civil servants in the Government Communications Service have been assigned to work on issues relating to High Speed 2.

Mr John Hayes: There are currently two Department for Transport (DfT) civil servants who work solely on High Speed 2 communications and there are two vacancies. None of the civil servants were assigned to their posts by the Government Communications Service, but all of them are employed as civil servants in accordance with GCS standards. In addition, there are two further DfT civil servants who work in part on HS2 communications, but have additional responsibilities covering all the department’s policies.

Roads: Accidents

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people aged over 70 who have been involved in a road traffic accident in each of the last five years.

Jesse Norman: The number of reported road casualties of people aged 70 years and older in reported road accidents in Great Britain in 2011 to 2015 is as follows:YearCasualties201111,824201211,469201311,292201412,181201511,761Source DfT STATS19 Casualties includes all road user types, including pedestrians. The number of drivers aged 70 years and older involved in reported road accidents in Great Britain in 2011 to 2015 is as follows: YearDrivers involved in accidents201111,929201211,869201312,102201412,947201512,353Source DfT STATS19

Department for Transport: Buildings

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much his Department has received from sub-lets on its estate in each year since 2010.

Mr John Hayes: The information requested can only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Department for Transport: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many procurements undertaken by his Department have taken more than (a) three months, (b) six months, (c) one year and (d) two years.

Mr John Hayes: My Department reports the following live contracts where procurements have taken more than (a) three months, (b) six months, (c) one year and (d) two years (where data is available). More thanDFTcVCAMCADVLADVSATotal(a)three months4  133350(b) six months14*1  722(c) one year2   24(d) two years11*includes 13 procurements run by Crown Commercial Service on behalf of my department.

Department for Transport: Buildings

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much his Department has paid in letting fees for its estate in each year since 2010.

Mr John Hayes: The information requested can only be provided at disproportionate cost.

M20: Large Goods Vehicles

Charlie Elphicke: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the implementation of Operation Stack on the (a) UK economy and (b) Kent economy and (c) logistics industry; and if he will make a statement.

Jesse Norman: Operation Stack is a multi-agency approach designed to reduce traffic disruption resulting from issues affecting the cross-Channel crossings. The effects of its implementation are unique to the individual circumstances and duration of its deployment, and so no reliable assessment of the general effects of Operation Stack can be undertaken in advance.

Logistics: EU Nationals

Charlie Elphicke: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of possible reductions in skilled immigration from the EU into the road-based logistics sector; and if he will make a statement.

Jesse Norman: The Government has not undertaken a formal assessment. While the Government acknowledges that any changes to arrangements for EU workers will be a factor in the availability of skilled staff for road haulage, it is not the only factor. As noted in the Government’s response to the Transport Committee’s report on skills and workforce planning in the road haulage sector, there are encouraging signs. For example there were about 10,000 more HGV driving test passes in 2015/16 compared to two years before, in response to the higher demand for HGV drivers and the shortages. In addition the industry has developed a new Trailblazer Apprenticeship standard for HGV drivers to be funded through the Apprenticeship Levy.

Swindon Station

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will conduct a review of the capacity of Swindon rail station.

Paul Maynard: The Government does not propose to conduct a review of the capacity of Swindon rail station at the present time. We will continue to engage with Network Rail’s route utilisation strategy for work programmes for the period starting in April 2019.

Driving: Disqualification

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with the Home Secretary on tackling banned drivers who continue to drive.

Jesse Norman: Ministers in the Department for Transport have not had any recent discussions with Home Office Ministers on this subject. However, officials in DfT, DVLA, the Police and the Home Office have day to day contact about a multitude of road safety issues, including unlicensed driving in all its forms.

Unmanned Air Vehicles

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to introduce proposals for (a) mandatory registration of drones and (b) safety courses for owners of drones.

Mr John Hayes: Following our public consultation on drones, we announced in July our intention to introduce a registration scheme and mandatory competency testing for all users of drones weighing 250g or more. In doing so, we will increase the accountability of these users and improve their awareness of the rules and regulations, helping to reduce the misuse of drones and protect public safety, security and privacy. Furthermore, anyone using a drone of 250g and above will receive, at minimum, online training on how to fly safely and then be required to pass a short knowledge test in order to prove they have understood the rules. We are currently considering legislative vehicles to deliver these measures and what further steps may need to be taken. We will be working with the Civil Aviation Authority and industry partners to develop the detailed standards and requirements for these two policies, to ensure effective and robust systems are put in place, and intend to provide an update soon.

Unmanned Air Vehicles: Registration

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to require the registration of drones.

Mr John Hayes: Following our public consultation on drones, we announced in July our intention to introduce a registration scheme and mandatory competency testing for all users of drones weighing 250g or more. In doing so, we will increase the accountability of these users and improve their awareness of the rules and regulations, helping to reduce the misuse of drones and protect public safety, security and privacy. Furthermore, anyone using a drone of 250g and above will receive, at minimum, online training on how to fly safely and then be required to pass a short knowledge test in order to prove they have understood the rules. We are currently considering legislative vehicles to deliver these measures and what further steps may need to be taken. We will be working with the Civil Aviation Authority and industry partners to develop the detailed standards and requirements for these two policies, to ensure effective and robust systems are put in place, and intend to provide an update soon.

Biofuels

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much public funding has been provided related to biofuels in each of the last five years.

Jesse Norman: The RTFO Unit in the Department for Transport operates the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) which supports the market for sustainable biofuel by means of a certificate trading scheme. The Department is also supporting the commercialisation of advanced biofuels by grant funding through the Advanced Biofuel Demonstration Competition. Departmental funding includes budgets for policy development, analysis and research into low carbon fuels, including (but not limited to) biofuels. The table below sets out readily identifiable expenditure for the last five full financial years.Public spending related to biofuels (and low carbon fuels) YearLow Carbon Fuels  research programmeRTFO Unit Advanced Biofuel Demonstration CompetitionTotal2016-17£63,000£905,000£6,548,000£7,516,000 2015-16£56,000£694,000£973,000£1,723,000 2014-15£106,000£701,000£106,000£913,0002013-14£131,000£706,000£83,000£920,000 2012-13£6,000£584,000nil£590,000

Roads: Heating

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing heating apparatus in certain road surfaces similar to that installed on the M4 at Chiswick in the 1960s to improve safety in winter and reduce the need for gritting; and if he will make a statement.

Jesse Norman: The then Highways Agency assessed the potential merits of introducing heating apparatus in road surfaces in a trial from 2004 to 2007, using heat stored during the summer to heat the road surface in winter. This helped prevent ice forming by warming the road to keep it above zero degrees centigrade, but was found not to be effective below minus four degrees centigrade. Conventional salt treatments proved to be safer and more cost effective.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Turkey: Human Rights

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Turkish counterpart on human rights abuses in that country.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​During my most recent visit to Turkey on 16-17 August, I emphasised the need for Turkey to respect human rights, including press freedom and the rule of law. Our officials in Turkey monitor the human rights situation closely and human rights remains a priority for our support to civil society projects there.

North Korea: Guided Weapons

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his US counterpart on recent missile tests in North Korea; whether he has made any (a) political and (b) military commitments to the US relating to North Korea; and if he will make a statement.

Sir Alan Duncan: I refer the Hon. Member to the statement made by my Rt Hon Friend, the Foreign Secretary on 5 September (https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2017-09-05/debates/C42A1D96-73C1-4D71-883E-BC8F83842285/KoreanPeninsula). The Foreign Secretary regulary speaks to US Secretary of State Tillerson about the situation in North Korea. We are working with the US and our partners in the region to bring this crisis to a diplomatic end.

North Korea: International Relations

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Government is taking steps to promote (a) bilateral dialogue between North Korea and the US and (b) six party dialogue with North Korea; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Field: I refer the Hon. Member to the statement made by my Rt Hon Friend the Foreign Secretary (https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2017-09-05/debates/C42A1D96-73C1-4D71-883E-BC8F83842285/KoreanPeninsula). North Korea has to provide a credible and genuine signal it is ready to discuss denuclearisation. The UK has been clear that we support dialogue under the right circumstances. We are working closely with partners to bring home to North Korea that a change in direction will open the way towards a peaceful resolution and a secure future.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many procurements undertaken by his Department have taken more than (a) three months, (b) six months, (c) one year and (d) two years.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​The Foreign and Commonwealth Office's central contract databases do not hold this information for all procurements. Accordingly, providing the number of procurements for each given time period could only be completed at disproportionate cost.

Ivory: Terrorism

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the contribution made by trade in illegal ivory to the financing of international terrorism.

Mark Field: ​The UK Government has not seen conclusive evidence of a direct, significant link between the trade in illegal ivory and the financing of international terrorism. Recent research by the Royal United Services Institute tends to disputes previous claims that ivory is a major source of finance for global terrorist networks such as Al Shabab. This research suggests instead that organised crime and widespread corruption are a greater threat to endangered wildlife. The Government will continue to monitor reporting on the issue. Global terrorism and the illegal ivory trade are issues of serious concern to the UK Government and tackling both is a priority.

Religious Freedom

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent steps he has taken to tackle religious persecution abroad.

Mark Field: Her Majesty's Government promotes Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) in many countries through diplomatic channels, public statements and support for projects to promote tolerance. A small selection of examples of steps Her Majesty's Government has taken recently to tackle and condemn religious persecution is provided below. It would place a disproportionate burden on resources to produce an exhaustive list of all recent actions taken by Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials abroad in this area.During his recent visit to Bangladesh, Lord Ahmad visited an Ahmadiyya mosque where he spoke publicly of the importance of religious tolerance. In the wake of recent attacks against Coptic Christians in Egypt, the Foreign Secretary made a statement condemning religious intolerance and violence against religious minorities. We have issued a number of statements in response to Russia's Supreme Court ruling banning Jehovah's Witnesses as 'extremists'. Officials from our Embassy in Moscow have attended court hearings and continue to monitor this case closely. In Eritrea, we have continued to call on the Government to release all prisoners detained without due process, including those detained for their religious beliefs. And in Sudan, we lobbied consistently on behalf of four imprisoned Christian pastors (now released – partly, we judge, as a result of our efforts).At the United Nations Human Rights Council we continue to work to sustain consensus on the adoption and implementation of the European Union sponsored Resolution on 'Freedom of Religion or Belief' and the Organisation for Islamic Cooperation sponsored Resolution on 'Combating Religious Intolerance'. We also continue to support a number of projects to promote tolerance through the FCO's Magna Carta Fund, including a project to promote legal and social protection of FoRB in secondary school curricula across the Middle East and North Africa.

China and Vietnam: Human Trafficking

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in China and Vietnam on curtailing the trafficking of women.

Mark Field: ​The UK Government is deeply committed to the achievement of UN Sustainable Development Goal 8.7, which calls, among other things, for the global eradication of forced labour, modern slavery and human trafficking by 2030. Although I have not directly discussed the specific issue of trafficking in women with my counterparts in China and Vietnam, as part of our efforts to achieve this target, Ministers and officials from the FCO and other relevant Government Departments have been actively engaged with China and Vietnam on the wider modern slavery and human trafficking agenda.

Nigeria: Slavery

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how the Government plans to monitor and support the Nigerian Government in tackling modern day slavery and human trafficking.

Rory Stewart: The Government works with Nigerian law enforcement agencies involved in investigating and prosecuting the perpetrators of modern slavery. This includes building relationships and providing training and equipment. In July 2016 the Prime Minister announced a £33.5 million fund to tackle modern slavery, of which £5 million has been allocated to Nigeria. It will be used to improve the effectiveness of law enforcement agencies, raise awareness amongst would-be victims and perpetrators of the consequences of modern slavery and the penalties for involvement, and to help safeguard victims and witnesses through comprehensive support packages. During their visit to Nigeria, the Foreign Secretary and the International Development Secretary announced a further £7 million of support over the next three years. This will be used to help develop alternative livelihoods options for communities in areas where trafficking occurs, and to help victims of trafficking recover and reintegrate into their communities. It will also fund research on the causes of trafficking and modern slavery.

Nigeria: Politics and Government

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what coordinated and joint actions the Government plans to undertake with the Nigerian Government to tackle insurgency and promote peace in North East Nigeria.

Rory Stewart: The UK is working closely with the Nigerian Government in tackling Boko Haram and promoting peace in the North East by providing a substantial package of military, intelligence and development support. This includes training for the Nigerian armed forces, supporting Nigerian intelligence analysis, and £5 million to support the Multinational Joint Task Force, the regional military force tackling Boko Haram. We have also increased counter-terrorism cooperation, providing training on response to terrorist attacks and bomb scene management. During their recent visit to Nigeria, the Foreign Secretary and International Development Secretary announced an additional £200 million of humanitarian aid over the next four years.

North Korea: Guided Weapons

Paul Masterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Governments of (a) Japan, (b) South Korea and (c) the US since the launch of an intermediate range ballistic missile by North Korea on 29 August 2017.

Mark Field: I refer the Hon. Member to the statement made by my Rt Hon Friend the Foreign Secretary (https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2017-09-05/debates/C42A1D96-73C1-4D71-883E-BC8F83842285/KoreanPeninsula)

North Korea: Sanctions

Paul Masterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the UN sanctions regime against North Korea.

Mark Field: As the Foreign Secretary made clear in his statement (https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2017-09-05/debates/C42A1D96-73C1-4D71-883E-BC8F83842285/KoreanPeninsula), it is crucial that the international community maintains pressure on the North Korean regime, both diplomatically and through sanctions. Measures against the financial sector and commodity exports make it harder for the DPRK to fund its illegal programmes. The unanimous adoption of UNSCRs 2371 on 5 August and UNSCR 2375 on 11 September, with the toughest package of sanctions on DPRK yet, demonstrates the level of consensus among the international community on this issue.

North Korea: Chemical Weapons

Paul Masterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports his Department has received on allegations that North Korea has been taking an active role as a proliferator of weapons of mass destruction by attempting to supply chemicals to the Syrian Government; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: The UK Government is deeply concerned at the actions of the North Korean regime, which is subject to stringent UN sanctions. Such transfers to Syria or another country would be very serious. Transfers of chemicals to Syria would be of particular concern given the Syrian regime's record of using chemical weapons. The UN Panel of Experts investigate any potential breaches of UN sanctions brought to their attention.

South Korea: Ballistic Missile Defence

Paul Masterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the Government's position is on the installation of the US Administration's THAAD missile system on South Korean territory.

Mark Field: While the UK Government fully supports the Republic of Korea's right to defend itself, the decision on the installation of the THAAD missile system is for the Korean government and other partners. At a United Nations Security Council emergency session on 4 September, every member, including China and Russia, denounced the 3 September nuclear test by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Turkey: Antisemitism

Mr Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with Turkish counterparts on antisemitism.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​There have been a number of recent protests targeting synagogues in Turkey, reportedly in response to the situation at the Al Aqsa mosque in East Jerusalem in July. These were condemned by both President Erdoğan and Prime Minister Yıldırım, who emphasised the importance of freedom of religion. As a friend and ally of Turkey, the UK has a frank and honest dialogue with the Turkish authorities on a range of issues, including freedom of religion and non-discrimination.

Latvia and Lithuania: World War II

Mr Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in Latvia and Lithuania on Holocaust revisionism.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​The Foreign Secretary has not had any recent discussions with his counterparts in Latvia and Lithuania on Holocaust revisionism. They meet regularly to discuss the full range of bilateral issues. Our Embassies in Latvia and Lithuania attend ceremonies remembering the victims of the Holocaust.

South Sudan: Politics and Government

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the political situation in South Sudan; and what steps is he making to support the peace process in that country.

Rory Stewart: The Government is deeply concerned by the crisis in South Sudan. We continue to work with partners to lead the international response, and encourage all sides to bring an end to conflict, allow humanitarian access, and return to an inclusive political process.We are strongly encouraging all sides to respond constructively to the recent initiative led by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development to revitalise the peace process. The immediate priority must be a negotiated ceasefire and a peace process that facilitates the participation of non-armed actors. We also continue to lobby the government of South Sudan to allow the UN Mission in South Sudan to effectively fulfil its mandate, and for the swift deployment of the Regional Protection Force.The UK is one of the largest humanitarian donors to South Sudan, and spent £168 million through our bilateral aid programme in 2016/17. This year we are continuing to provide a package of support.

North Korea: Sanctions

Stephen Kerr: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has made to the Government of China on the enforcement of existing UN sanctions against North Korea.

Mark Field: North Korea's recent actions are reckless and pose an unacceptable threat to the international community. The UK will work with our partners and allies to tackle this threat.We welcome China's condemnation of North korea's activity. China has supported all UNSCRs, including the most recent, UNSCR 2371 and UNSCR 2375. As the Foreign Secretary said on 5 September, in a statement to Parliament on the situation on the Korean Peninsula, China has a unique ability to influence the regime. The Foreign Secretary spoke to the Chinese Foreign Minister on 4 August and 1 September to urge China to use its influence on the DPRK regime and implement sanctions fully. The Foreign Secretary had already urged China to support further action at the UN Security Council in a statement on 4 July. As The Minister for Asia and the Pacific, I also discussed North Korea with the Chinese government during my visit to Beijing in the final week of August.

Burma: Rohingya

Stephen Kerr: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations his Department has made to the Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar on the treatment of the Rohingya people.

Mark Field: Following the recent outbreak in violence in Rakhine State, the Foreign Secretary has spoken with State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and has raised our concerns. Our Ambassador in Rangoon has also raised these issues in several occasions. The Minister of State for International Development, my Rt Hon Friend Alistair Burt MP, visited Burma in July. He discussed the situation in Rakhine State with the Burmese Ministers of Health and Education and met Rohingya leaders.

Islamic State: British Nationals Abroad

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many charges of (a) genocide and (b) war crimes have been brought against British citizens who have returned to the UK having fought for Daesh.

Alistair Burt: To date, no British Citizens have been charged in the UK with war crimes or genocide in relation to Daesh activities. However a number of convictions have been made in the UK for cases linked to the Syrian conflict and Daesh activities in the region. Furthermore, on 14 August 2017, the Government of Iraq wrote to the UN Secretary General, requesting support to hold Daesh accountable for their crimes. The UK is working with the UN Security Council to deliver this support.

Department for International Development

Palestinians: Schools

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Memorandum of Understanding between the Palestinian Authority and her Department, signed in 2014, what assessment her Department has made to the findings and recommendations of the IMPACT-se report on the Palestinian Elementary School Curriculum 2016-17, published in April 2017.

Alistair Burt: HMG was very concerned at some of the findings of the IMPACT-SE report and met with IMPACT-SE to discuss them. Our assessment is that IMPACT-SE report was not objective in its findings. We work closely with the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Education on quality of education issues.

Young People: Nigeria

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what measures the Government is putting in place with the Nigerian Government to support the economic and developmental potential of Nigeria's youth population.

Alistair Burt: Recently, I witnessed the transformative work DFID is doing in Nigeria, with the Government and the private sector, to build a better future for the largest youth population in Africa. DFID is providing critical healthcare in the early stages of life, educating over 1 million children, and supporting livelihoods, jobs and investment across the country, and has raised the incomes of 1.38 million Nigerians since 2015.

International Assistance: Young People

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what (a) plans her Department has and (b) funding it has allocated to implement its Youth Agenda, published in April 2016; and how her Department plans to ensure that it works alongside and consults young people as advocates and agents for change.

Priti Patel: With 1.8 billion people globally between the ages of 10 and 24, DFID is ensuring that young people are at the centre of all our work, supporting their access to quality education, improved healthcare, and decent work; regardless of their background. We aim to provide young people with a genuine say in shaping a positive future for their countries. This was illustrated most recently at the 2017 Family Planning summit, which had a Youth Panel that played a key role in setting the agenda and outcomes of the event. We are also working directly with 5-18 year olds in the UK through our Development Education programme. Through this programme, we are investing in a new generation of Global Britain ambassadors, proud of the work the UK is doing to tackle global poverty, and better prepared to live and eventually work in a globalised economy.

Gender: Equality

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether her Department plans to (a) publish and (b) implement its new Strategic Vision for Gender Equality.

Priti Patel: DFID’s new Strategic Vision on Gender Equality will be published and implemented by DFID and with its partners in due course.

Iraq: Kurds

Jack Lopresti: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what contingency planning her Department has undertaken to support Iraqi Kurds in the event of a vote for independence in the forthcoming referendum.

Alistair Burt: The UK Government’s position on the referendum is clear. Unilateral moves towards independence would not be in the interests of the people of Kurdistan Region, of the rest of Iraq or of wider regional stability. Any referendum or political process towards independence must be agreed with the Government of Iraq in Baghdad. We support a stable, democratic and unified Iraq, one that is able to provide the security, jobs, healthcare and education all Iraqis want and deserve. Ministers and officials are in continuing discussions with both the Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government, urging both parties to engage in dialogue to deliver a better future for their people on the basis of the Iraqi Constitution. The Department for International Development has provided £209.5 million in life-saving humanitarian aid to Iraq since June 2014, which has helped to support internally displaced people across Iraq, including those hosted in the Kurdistan region. DFID is working alongside other Government departments to assess the impact of the referendum on our priorities in Iraq.

Department for International Development: Sign Language

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department takes to provide (a) information on its services in British Sign Language (BSL) and (b) correspondence in BSL to people whose principal language is BSL.

Rory Stewart: DFID provides information and correspondence in British Sign Language (BSL) on request, or when a specific need has been identified.

International Assistance

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what plans exist for the repatriation or reallocation of the proportion of the overseas aid budget currently contributing towards EU development funds; and whether the Government intends to bring these plans before Parliament.

Priti Patel: The arrangements for withdrawal from the EU, including its funds, will be determined as part of the exit negotiations with the European Commission.

Adam Smith International

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much funding from the public purse has been paid by her Department to Adam Smith International since March 2017; how much of that funding is classified as Official Development Assistance; and whether her Department has (a) signed any new contracts or (b) extended any existing contracts with Adam Smith International since March 2017.

Priti Patel: DFID has not signed any new contracts or extended any existing contracts with Adam Smith International (ASI) since March 2017. Between 1st March – 31st August 2017 DFID paid £50.06 million to ASI, to fulfil legally binding contracts. All payments are classified as Official Development Assistance.

Developing Countries: Renewable Energy

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will ensure that two-thirds of UK support for energy access in developing countries is allocated to centralised, renewable electricity and clean cooking solutions.

Rory Stewart: Between 2011 and 2016, UK aid provided 12 million people with improved access to clean energy, including through off-grid renewable energy and other clean technologies like more efficient cook stoves. This is enabling businesses to be more productive, children to study after school and keeping women and girls safer after dark.While DFID funding to energy technologies is informed by the needs of individual countries, the Department retains a strong preference in its bilateral programmes for clean energy solutions. This is consistent with UK leadership internationally, including through the £5.8bn commitment (2016 - 2021) for tackling climate change.

Nigeria: Overseas Aid

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, when she plans to publish a breakdown of new funding for Nigeria announced in August 2017.

Priti Patel: The detailed plans of how these funds are going to be spent will be published on DFID department’s website once suitable implementing partners are appointed. Further details of these announcements can be found in my press releases of 31 August 2017 on modern slavery and on 30 August 2017 on humanitarian support.

Department for International Development: Internet

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what the cost including for staff of maintaining her Department's In the News webpage is annually.

Priti Patel: DFID’s In the News webpage is maintained by the existing Press Office team as part of their regular duties. There is no dedicated resource required.

UN Agencies: Finance

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether she plans to review her Department's financial contribution to any UN agencies.

Priti Patel: The 2016 Multilateral Development Review included a comprehensive assessment of every UN agency receiving more than £1 million of annual core funding from DFID.We continue to actively monitor UN Agency performance through our membership of their Governing Boards and analysis of their results data. We are clear that where agencies consistently fail to meet our high standards, their funding is at risk. The UK is pushing hard for the UN development system to change so that it is better prepared for the challenges of the 21st Century; future funding will be linked to progress on reform.

Anguilla: Hurricanes and Tornadoes

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what plans she has to match the humantiarian assistance provided by the French Government to the people of St Barts, St Martin and Guadeloupe in providing emergency assistance and reconstruction funds to the people of the British Overseas Territory of Anguilla.

Alistair Burt: The Prime Minister has made available £32million to support those affected by Hurricane Irma and a cross-Government response has been stood up. DFID has sent more than 40 metric tonnes of UKaid to the region including thousands of shelter kits and of solar lanterns. Nine tonnes of food and water have been procured and are being transported to Anguilla. More supplies will be arriving throughout the month. We are also working with the Overseas Territories institutions to understand how we will move from disaster response to early recovery and long-term reconstruction. The Government will continue to do all it can to support those affected.

Department for Education

GCSE

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to page 61 of the Social Mobility Commission's report, Time for Change: an assessment of government policies on social mobility 1997-2017, published on 28 June 2017, what assessment she has made of the effect on the confidence of young people leaving compulsory education of a failure rate for English and mathematics GCSE resits higher than 75 per cent.

Nick Gibb: Securing good levels of English and mathematics increases a student’s chances of improving their future earnings and progressing in either employment or further study. This is why we want to give students the opportunity to continue to study English and mathematics if they do not achieve a standard pass at age 16. This summer many tens of thousands of students aged 17 and over successfully re-sat their English and mathematics GCSEs thanks to the efforts of colleges and schools in England.We recognise that not all students are ready to resit their GCSEs. This is why schools and colleges have the freedom to determine if or when a student is ready to enter an examination. We will ensure that students are able to study for a range of English and mathematics courses, rather than just GCSEs, to help them make progress in these subjects. We will continue to work with post-16 providers to improve the delivery of post-16 English and mathematics to ensure that all young people are equipped with the knowledge required to succeed in employment.

Teachers

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Social Mobility Commission Report, Time for Change: an assessment of government policies on social mobility 1997-2017, what steps she is taking to improve teacher retention and continuing professional development.

Nick Gibb: The 2016 School Workforce Census shows teacher retention rates have remained stable for teachers over the first five years of their careers. The vast majority of teachers are not considering leaving teaching (NFER Engaging Teachers 2016). We recognise that workload remains a concern for schools and teachers.Removing unnecessary workload for teachers is a priority for the Government, to support the retention of high-quality teachers and free up teachers to do what they do best, which is to teach.We recognised the problem of unnecessary workload when we launched the Workload Challenge in 2014. On 24 February 2017 we published the results of our workload survey and a clear action plan setting out the steps we will take to help tackle this issue, including targeted support for schools.We believe that high quality professional development for teachers and leaders is crucial so that they can continue to improve their practice throughout their careers. As part of our commitment to create a strong culture of professional development, we introduced a new Standard for Teachers’ Professional Development in July 2016. This helps teachers and leaders identify and participate in the most effective development activities. It also encourages providers of professional development to ensure that they offer truly meet the needs of schools. We are supporting the development of the new Chartered College of Teaching, a new professional body that will focus on helping teachers to access high quality professional development. We have also announced a £75 million Teaching and Leadership Innovation fund, which will enable schools and providers in the most challenging areas to bid for funding for bespoke professional development opportunities. The fund will enable us to build and share our knowledge of what works.

Schools: Hate Crime

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what training is available for teachers to handle or report hate crime in schools.

Nick Gibb: The Government’s Educate Against Hate website, which aims to provide high quality resources to teachers, contains resources from the Crown Prosecution Service to help explore and challenge homophobic and transphobic bullying and hate crime.http://www.cps.gov.uk/northwest/working_with_you/hate_crime_schools_project/. The Teachers’ Standards set out the personal and professional conduct expected of all teachers. These include; having regard to the need to safeguard pupils’ wellbeing, showing tolerance of and respect for the rights of others, not undermining fundamental British values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect, and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs. All providers of initial teacher training (ITT) must comply with the statutory criteria, and guidance accompanying these criteria makes it clear that ITT providers have a duty to have ‘due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism’ (CTSA 2015). In exercising this duty, ITT providers will ensure that all trainee teachers are appropriately trained in the Prevent duty.

Drugs: Health Education

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much her Department has spent on drug education and awareness in schools in each of the last five years.

Nick Gibb: Effective drug and alcohol education is essential in tackling the problem of drug and alcohol misuse. Education plays an important role in helping to ensure that young people are equipped with the information they need to make informed, healthy decisions and to keep themselves safe.Drug education is part of National Curriculum science at Key Stage 2 and 3. Provision in this area can be built on through non-statutory Personal, Social, Health and Economic education (PSHE). We encourage all schools to teach PSHE and have outlined this expectation in the introduction to the National Curriculum.Many schools draw on materials produced by expert organisations for example, the PSHE Association non-statutory programme of study and evidence provided by tools such as ADEPIS.We will be further considering PSHE in the context of the Children and Social Work Act 2017 which provides for a power to make PSHE, or elements therein, mandatory in all schools, subject to careful consideration.

Children: Social Media

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that children are aware of the dangers of using social media apps.

Nick Gibb: The new computing curriculum was introduced in September 2014 and includes e-safety, using technology safely, respectfully, responsibly and securely, at all Key Stages. The e-safety content was developed with input from experts including Childnet, NSPCC and the UK Safer Internet Centre. The computing curriculum is compulsory in state maintained schools and free schools and academies may use it as a benchmark. There is progression in the e-safety content across the key stages to reflect the different and escalating risks that young people face as they get older. From Key Stage 1, children are taught how to keep personal information private, and where to go for help and support when they have concerns about content or contact on the internet or other online technologies, which could include social media apps. The introduction of e-safety content in Key Stages 1 and 2 reflects the fact that children are increasingly using technology and social media from a young age, and it is intended to inform pupils of good practice in staying safe online from an early age. The Internet Safety Strategy, which will look at how best to prepare parents/carers and children to successfully manage online risks including those presented by social media, will be published by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport in the autumn.

Schools: Inspections

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effect of the inspection system in schools on the (a) mental health and (b) retention rate of teachers.

Nick Gibb: There has been no assessment of the effect of school inspection on mental health. The 2016 School Workforce Census shows teacher retention rates have remained stable for teachers over the first five years of their careers. The vast majority of teachers are not considering leaving teaching (NFER Engaging Teachers 2016). We recognise that workload remains a concern for schools and teachers. Removing unnecessary workload for teachers is a priority for the Government, to support the retention of high quality teachers and free up teachers to do what they do best: teach. We continue our extensive work with the profession, teaching unions and Ofsted to support the retention of teachers.The Department’s reducing teacher workload action plan, published in February 2017, sets out a comprehensive programme of action to be taken. It makes clear their commitment to dispelling myths about preparing for inspection, providing training for inspectors and monitoring inspection reports. Ofsted has also re-committed to reducing unnecessary workload around inspections.

Faith Schools: Admissions

Stephen Pound: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her policy is on the removal of the cap on faith admissions; and if she will make a statement.

Anne Milton: Schools play a vital role in promoting integration and promoting an understanding of different faiths and communities. We will continue to work closely with Church and faith schools to promote and support integration and will set out further details of our approach in this area and in relation to the 50% cap on faith admissions in faith free schools in due course.

Schools: Finance

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of schools in (a) England and (b) each local authority in England projecting that they will run an in-year deficit in the next three years.

Nick Gibb: The Government want schools to have the resources they need to deliver a high quality education for their pupils. This is why we have announced that under the National Funding Formula there will be an additional £1.3 billion for schools and high needs across 2018-19 and 2019-20. This means that core funding for schools and high needs will rise from almost £41 billion in 2017-18 to £42.4 billion in 2018-19. In 2019-20, this will rise again to £43.5 billion. An in-year deficit is not an issue in itself unless it is symptomatic of a trend towards a cumulative deficit. Schools may draw on their reserves in a particular year – for example to spend on capital projects. The Department does not collect data on balance projections, including in-year deficits, for maintained schools. Academy trusts are obliged to provide the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) with an unaudited Budget Forecast Return (BFR) each year, to allow us to view their current and expected end of year position. Since the BFR is only an unaudited forecast, we do not use it as a basis for estimates. An audited financial statement is published by trusts at the end of the financial year, confirming their actual financial position for that year.

Teachers: EU Nationals

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many teachers who are nationals of other EU member states were working in schools in the UK in the 2016-17 academic year.

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many teachers who are nationals of other EU member states are employed in schools in the UK in the 2017-18 academic year.

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many language teachers in UK schools are nationals from other EU countries in the 2017-18 academic year.

Nick Gibb: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Free School Meals

Thelma Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of children were eligible for free school meals in (a) Kirklees and (b) England in each of the last seven years.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Figures on the proportion of children eligible for free school meals are published, for all authorities in England, annually. The figures can be found in the statistical first releases, which are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-school-and-pupil-numbers.

Apprentices

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to increase the number of apprentices undertaking apprenticeships at level 3 or above.

Anne Milton: We are implementing employer led apprenticeship reforms to continue to improve the quality of apprenticeships for all and to reach our commitment of 3 million apprenticeship starts in England by 2020.Supported by the Institute for Apprenticeships, employers are designing new high quality apprenticeship standards to ensure apprenticeships are more responsive to their needs. By 2020 there will be one new standard for each occupation identified by employers as requiring an apprenticeship, standards currently available range from levels 2 to 7: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/apprenticeship-standards. The availability of apprenticeships at level 3 or above will be determined by employer groups choosing to develop new standards and employers choosing to offer apprenticeship opportunities.

Universities: Admissions

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to increase access to Russell Group universities for students from disadvantaged and under-represented backgrounds.

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what (a) discussions she has had with and (b) representations she has received from the Vice Chancellors of Russell Group universities on improving access for students from disadvantaged and under-represented groups.

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department provides to Russell Group universities on improving access for students from disadvantaged and under-represented backgrounds.

Joseph Johnson: The Government is committed to widening participation to higher education for students from disadvantaged and under-represented groups. Figures from UCAS figures show that the entry rate for disadvantaged young people to the most selective institutions –such as those from the Russell Group - has increased 52% proportionally between 2009 and 2016.The latest guidance from Government to the Director of Fair Access (February 2016) acknowledges that, whilst selective institutions have made progress in widening access to higher education, more could and should be done. As such we have asked the Director to challenge institutions to see that more progress is made. Through the access agreement process there are regular discussions with each higher education institution about their plans and progress in widening participation. In its strategic plan the Office for Fair Access has set the sector an objective, to be achieved by 2019-20, to make faster progress to increase the entry rate of students from under-represented and disadvantaged groups entering more selective institutions and narrow the participation gap between people from the most and least advantaged backgrounds at such institutions. From January 2018, the Office for Students (OfS), with a new Director for Fair Access and Participation appointed by the Secretary of State, will take on responsibility for widening participation in higher education. The OfS will have a statutory duty to promote equality of opportunity across the whole lifecycle for disadvantaged students, not just access. As a result, widening access and participation will be at the core of the OfS’ functions. In addition, our reforms will introduce a Transparency Duty requiring higher education providers to publish application, offer, acceptance, dropout and attainment rates of students broken down by ethnicity, gender and socio-economic background.

Teachers: Greater London

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the level of teacher shortages in (a) the London Borough of Haringey and (b) London.

Nick Gibb: The latest available information is published as part of the underlying data for the Statistical First Release, School Workforce in England 2016. This is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/school-workforce-in-england-november-2016. The published data shows that in 2016, Haringey had a vacancy rate of 0.3%. For Inner London, the vacancy rate was 0.2%.

Department for Education: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many procurements undertaken by her Department have taken more than (a) three months, (b) six months, (c) one year and (d) two years.

Mr Robert Goodwill: I am sorry, but we are unable to provide this information other than at disproportionate cost.

Department for Education: Buildings

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much her Department has received from sub-lets on its estate in each year since 2010.

Mr Robert Goodwill: I am sorry, but the information requested could not be provided other than at disproportionate cost.

Students: Loans

Michael Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the proportion of average living costs covered by the average student loan for a (a) student and (b) disabled student.

Joseph Johnson: The Student Income and Expenditure Survey (SIES) reports on the average living costs across demographic groups. The 2014-15 report will be published shortly.Loans for living costs are a contribution towards a full-time student’s costs while attending University rather than covering them in full. All full-time students qualify for some loan for living costs with the most support available for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Disabled students can also apply for Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSAs), which are not income assessed and are not repayable, to cover essential, additional, learning-related expenditure.

Department for Education: Buildings

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much her Department has paid in letting fees for its estate in each year since 2010.

Mr Robert Goodwill: I am sorry, but the information requested could not be provided other than at disproportionate cost.

Children: Exercise

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has plans to promote physical activity amongst children in the school holidays.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The government wants all pupils to be healthy and active, which is why PE remains a compulsory subject at all four stages of the national curriculum, and why we are doubling funding for the PE and Sport Premium to £320m a year. We know that children’s levels of physical activity can drop off over the summer holidays, and there are a number of initiatives under way across Government to improve levels of physical activity in children outside of school. These include a new £40 million investment from Sport England into projects which offer opportunities for families with children to get active and play sport together outside school, and the Change4Life programme which aims to inspire everyone to eat well, move more and live longer. Schools may also choose to use their PE and Sport Premium funding to provide extra-curricular activities for pupils during school holidays.

Apprentices: Learning Disability

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress she has made on implementing the recommendations of the Maynard Review into apprenticeships for people with a learning disability.

Anne Milton: From this autumn, apprentices with an Education Health and Care Plan or legacy statement can apply for an adjustment to English and maths requirements to Entry Level 3, and British Sign Language (BSL) will be an alternative to English Functional Skills for those who have BSL as their first language.We are evaluating how the new funding system is working to encourage the successful take up and likely achievement of apprentices with a disability, embedding apprenticeships into the wider Civil Service diversity and inclusion strategy, as well as developing communications and guidance for employers, including toolkits and diversity training.The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has continued to develop the Access to Work funding stream to consider pre-existing assessments of need agreed by other agencies. DWP has further updated the Access to Work Pre-employment eligibility letter and is developing supporting case studies, as well as promoting the Mental Health Support Service to apprentices. It is also embedding the Disability Confident scheme in the apprenticeship recruitment service and using the scheme to promote public sector good practice.We have set a public measure of success to increase apprenticeship starts by people with learning difficulties and/or disabilities by 20% by 2020.

Educational Institutions: Inspections

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to publish the results of the consultation on Ofsted inspecting out-of-hours teaching institutions.

Anne Milton: The Government published a Counter Extremism Strategy in 2015, which set out plans to introduce a new system of oversight for out-of-school education settings – such as supplementary schools, tuition centres and madrassahs. To learn more about these settings, and the potential scope and impact of any regulatory system, the department issued a call for evidence. We will make an announcement about the outcome in due course.

Schools: Holidays

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions her Department has had with the travel industry on the price of family holidays during school summer holidays.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Parents should avoid taking their children out of school during term-time, except in exceptional circumstances.The evidence shows every extra day of school missed can affect a pupil’s chances of achieving good GCSEs, which has a lasting effect on their life chances.We are pleased the Supreme Court unanimously agreed with our position that no child should be taken out of school without good reason.Following the Supreme Court judgment, we are carefully considering what our next steps will be. This includes potential discussions with other departments across government with a common interest in the travel industry, to build on my Department’s previous discussions with the industry in 2016 on the potential implications of the High Court judgment.

Children: Day Care

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to ensure the ongoing high quality of childcare; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Robert Goodwill: We know that high quality early years education helps to give children the best start in life. The quality of early years provision has continued to rise in recent years and the latest figures from Ofsted show that 93% of providers were rated “good” or “outstanding”, as at 31 March 2017. Staff qualifications have been consistently identified as a predictor of higher quality in early years provision, particularly graduate-level qualifications. For this reason the Department published the Early Years Workforce Strategy in March to support the development of a well-qualified workforce with the appropriate knowledge, skills and experience to deliver high quality early education and childcare for children from birth to age five. Commitments in the workforce strategy include: improving the quality of early years training, level 2 qualifications and providing access to continuous professional development. The Early years Workforce Strategy is available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-workforce-strategy.

Pupils: Dyslexia

Neil O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps are being taken to ensure that teaching schools have staff who are qualified to train others to teach dyslexic pupils.

Nick Gibb: Holding answer received on 12 September 2017



Teaching schools have a responsibility through their delivery of Continuing Professional and Leadership Development to develop future head teachers to help meet the most pressing national needs in primary, small rural, special, challenging urban/coastal and faith schools. This includes supporting and training teachers to meet the needs of children and young people with special educational needs and disability (SEND), including dyslexia. The Department does not prescribe approaches to be used by teaching schools but we know from monitoring data, that many Teaching School Alliances run specific dyslexia courses.In addition, through their role in designating and brokering Specialist Leaders of Education (SLE), Teaching School Alliances are able to offer schools access to a range of SEN expertise. A total of 939 SLEs are designated with a SEN specialism.We have also enabled teachers to develop their practice in supporting children with SEN and disabilities through the National Scholarship Fund, which allowed teachers to apply for funding to undertake postgraduate level qualifications in specific impairments.

Schools: Fire Extinguishers

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of regulations on sprinklers in schools.

Nick Gibb: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Children: Day Care

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many 30 hours of free childcare eligibility codes were generated before the 31 August 2017 deadline in each (a) region of England and (b) constituent part of the UK.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The national rollout of 30 hours free childcare marks the delivery of a manifesto commitment that will help hundreds of thousands of hard working families. The childcare service online application has been working well for the vast majority of parents and over 216,384 valid 30 hours codes have been generated by successful applications, reaching our target for 1st September.It is the responsibility of local authorities to assess supply and demand of free entitlement places at a local level.The 30 hours scheme is an England only arrangement.

Pre-school Education

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her oral contribution of 6 September 2017, Official Report, column 166, how she plans to ensure that nursery providers offer places to meet the working patterns of parents.

Mr Robert Goodwill: We are committed to ensuring that all families have access to high quality, flexible and affordable childcare that meets the needs of working parents and supports the best outcomes for children. Extending the hours over which funded provision can be delivered, from 7.00am to 7.00pm to 6.00am to 8.00pm, means that providers can offer the 30 hours entitlement more flexibly.Our early delivery areas have developed and tested innovative, flexible childcare approaches to support working families. In the early implementation evaluation survey, over three-quarters (78%) of parents reported that they had greater flexibility in their working life as a result of the 30 hours entitlement. Case studies showed that increased work flexibility helped parents to obtain more secure employment, enhanced career opportunities and improved their work-life balance. These approaches have been shared widely with all providers and local authorities.We have also published practical, hands-on guidance for providers who want to work in partnership to deliver the entitlement, so that individual providers that cannot meet parents’ needs on their own can work effectively with others in order to do so.

Children: Swimming

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Statutory Guidance on National curriculum in England: physical education programmes of study, published on 11 September 2013; how many children in (a) England, (b) the London Borough of Haringey and (c) Hornsey and Wood Green constituency achieve the target of using a range of swimming strokes effectively.

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Statutory Guidance on National Curriculum in England: physical education programmes of study, published on 13 September 2013, what proportion of children in (a) England, (b) the London Borough of Harringey and (c) Hornsey and Wood Green constituency achieved the target of using a range of swimming strokes effectively in each of the last five years.

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Statutory Guidance on National Curriculum in England: physical education programmes of study, published on 11 September 2013, how many children in (a) England, (b) the London Borough of Haringey and (c) Hornsey and Wood Green constituency achieve the target of swimming competently, confidently and proficiently over a distance of at least 25 metres.

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Statutory Guidance on National Curriculum in England: physical education programmes of study, published on 13 September 2013, what proportion of children in (a) England, (b) the London Borough of Harringey and (c) Hornsey and Wood Green constituency achieved the target of swimming competently, confidently and proficiently over a distance of at least 25 metres in each of the last five years.

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of children in (a) England, (b) Haringey and (c) Hornsey and Wood Green constituency achieve the National Curriculum Physical Education target of performing safe self-rescue in different water-based situations.

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Statutory Guidance on National Curriculum in England: physical education programmes of study, published on 11 September 2013, how many and what proportion of children are unable to achieve all three of the Swimming and Water Safety components by the end of Key Stage 2.

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Statutory Guidance on National Curriculum in England: physical education programmes of study, published on 11 September 2013, how many children in (a) England, (b) the London Borough of Haringey and (c) Hornsey and Wood Green constituency achieve the target of performing safe self-rescue in different water-based situations.

Mr Robert Goodwill: I am sorry, but the Department does not hold this data. We want all children to leave primary school able to swim, which is why we are currently working across government and with the sector to help ensure that all schools meet their curriculum requirements.

Church Commissioners

Churches: Fees and Charges

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the right hon. Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, what assessment she has made of the effect of admission costs for cathedrals and abbeys in England on the ability of UK families to visit such places.

Dame Caroline Spelman: There is no central policy on charging for entry at Church of England churches and cathedrals. It is for the cathedral chapters and church incumbents to decide how best to meet their financial obligations, such as running costs and repairs, and in the case of the most popular, to manage their visitor numbers. However, only nine out of the 42 Church of England cathedrals, and very few churches, charge for entry. All churches and cathedrals which charge for entry give free access to those attending services and for private prayer, and some give free entry on Sundays and at other times. Many also run a full programme of outreach, education programmes and events for children and families which are accessible at little or no cost.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Public Footpaths: Publicity

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to promote the use of national trails.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Until 2012, Natural England managed a national trails website for this purpose. From January 2013, Walk Unlimited (a social enterprise) assumed the day to day lead for national trails promotion in England and Wales, and have established the new interactive website www.nationaltrail.co.uk. They work with and alongside the individual Trail Partnerships who remain responsible for providing information on their trail to the national site, and for local promotion. Natural England also encourage individual Trail Partnerships – and the emerging England Coast Path partners – to consider promotion of both the individual trails (and stretches) and the promotion of the family of National Trails.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Assets

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, in which of the last 10 years his Department has submitted a strategic asset management plan to the Government Property Unit.

George Eustice: We provided a Strategic Asset Management Plan to the Government Property Unit in 2014/15, 2015/16 and 2017/18.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Arms Length External Organisations

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of new arms-length bodies his Department plans to establish once the UK has left the EU.

George Eustice: The UK’s relationship with the EU's agencies upon exit will be evaluated in light of delivering the twelve objectives outlined by the Prime Minister to achieve a deep and special partnership between the UK and the EU. The UK’s future relationship with the EU's decentralised bodies after leaving the EU is a matter for the negotiations. Prior to any decisions on establishing new agencies, the Government will, however, always look to minimise disruption and costs, which will include considering alternative options.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Brexit

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what contingency planning his Department has carried out for the possibility that there is no deal reached on the UK leaving the EU.

George Eustice: The Government continues to take a responsible approach in preparing plans for all exit scenarios. Over the past year, every government department has been working at pace to build a detailed understanding of how withdrawing from the EU will affect its existing policies and services across a wide range of outcomes. Planning for all scenarios is in no way representative of how talks are proceeding or indicative of our preferred outcome.

Gun Sports: Employment

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many people have been employed in shooting sports in each of the last five years.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: This information is not held by the Government.According to an industry report, (Public & Corporate Economic Consultants report 2014: The Value of Shooting, found at www.shootingfacts.co.uk) shooting as a whole is estimated to be worth about £2 billion a year to the economy, supporting more than 70,000 full-time equivalent jobs.

Birds of Prey

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will consider controls on the number of raptor birds in the countryside.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Nature conservation is a devolved matter. In England all wild birds are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, making it an offence to kill, injure or take wild birds or to take or damage their eggs and nests. There are provisions under Section 16 of the 1981 Act that allow for the control of raptors for specific reasons, for example, to conserve other wild birds. Licence applications are dealt with on a case by case basis and priority must be given to non-lethal methods. The Government is not considering any further controls on the number of raptors.

Ravens: Licensing

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many licences have been issued to control ravens in each of the last five years.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: This is a devolved matter so this reply relates to England only.The table below shows licences issued in England under Section 16(1)(k) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, to allow the killing of ravens for the purposes of prevention of damage to livestock (in all cases sheep).Year2013/142014/152015/162016/172017/18 (to date)Licences issued01120

Gun Sports

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the value of shooting sports to the UK in each of the last five years.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: This information is not held by the Government.According to an industry report, (Public & Corporate Economic Consultants report 2014: The Value of Shooting, found at www.shootingfacts.co.uk) shooting as a whole is estimated to be worth about £2 billion a year to the economy, supporting more than 70,000 full-time equivalent jobs.

Dogs: Registration

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many and what proportion of dogs are registered as microchipped.

George Eustice: We estimate that around 8 million dogs in the UK are microchipped, which represents about 94% of all dogs.

Dogs: Theft

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of prevalence of dog theft in the UK; and what steps the Government is taking to tackle such theft.

George Eustice: The Government recognises the terrible impact of the theft of a family pet. The theft of a pet dog is already a criminal offence punishable by a maximum penalty of 7 years’ imprisonment. In order to make a direct link between a dog and its owner, to deter such thefts in the first place, and to increase the chances of an owner being re-united with their dog, it is a requirement that all dogs be identified by a microchip. Animal welfare bodies, veterinary organisations, local authorities and the police support the policy of compulsory dog microchipping.

Dogs: Registration

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many prosecutions there have been for failure to microchip a dog since April 2016.

George Eustice: The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates’ courts for offences under the Microchipping of Dogs (England) Regulations 2015, from April to December 2016, can be viewed in the table (Annex 1).Please see attached. 



Annex 1
(Word Document, 37 KB)

Recycling: British Overseas Territories

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what support his Department is providing to assist Overseas Territories for recycling.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: UK Overseas Territory (OT) Governments are constitutionally responsible for the protection and conservation of their natural environments. Defra is currently providing over £99,000 through Darwin Plus for the development and implementation of a sustainable waste management strategy for Ascension Island, supported by the Waste and Resources Action Programme. We have also committed over £190,000 to increasing paper and cardboard recycling in St Helena.

Agriculture: West Yorkshire

Thelma Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much the EU paid in subsidies to farmers in (a) Colne Valley constituency and (b) West Yorkshire in each of the last seven years.

George Eustice: There are several schemes which offer EU subsidies to farmers. The main scheme for direct subsidy is the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) which replaced the Single Payment Scheme (SPS) in 2015. Figures below are for BPS and SPS. YearAmountAmount Colne ValleyWest YorkshireSPS  2010£1,206,660£16,284,5942011£1,099,675£15,853,6872012£1,032,367£14,747,8272013£1,038,170£14,882,4822014£904,551£13,459,240BPS  2015£979, 517£13,016,0202016£1,093,615£14,338,213

Food: Packaging

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to reduce the use of plastic packaging for food.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: We do not collect data on the percentage of food packaging that is recyclable.Packaging has an important and positive role to play in reducing product damage and minimising food waste. Keeping food fresher for longer through innovations such as vacuum packing and re-sealable packs has a significant impact on extending the life of products and reducing waste.Great progress in reduction of food packaging has been made through the Courtauld commitment. Courtauld 3 signatories reduced food and packaging waste in the supply chain by 3% between 2012 and 2015, preventing 219,000 tonnes of waste and 555,000t of CO2e. Signatories to the Hospitality and Food Service Agreement reduced their food and packaging waste by 11% between 2012 and 2015, exceeding their 5% target.This Government remains committed to preventing waste where possible and will be consulting widely on our plans for resources, waste and recycling in developing our waste and resources strategy.

Food: Packaging

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what percentage of food packaging is recyclable.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: We do not collect data on the percentage of food packaging that is recyclable.Packaging has an important and positive role to play in reducing product damage and minimising food waste. Keeping food fresher for longer through innovations such as vacuum packing and re-sealable packs has a significant impact on extending the life of products and reducing waste.Great progress in reduction of food packaging has been made through the Courtauld commitment. Courtauld 3 signatories reduced food and packaging waste in the supply chain by 3% between 2012 and 2015, preventing 219,000 tonnes of waste and 555,000t of CO2e. Signatories to the Hospitality and Food Service Agreement reduced their food and packaging waste by 11% between 2012 and 2015, exceeding their 5% target.This Government remains committed to preventing waste where possible and will be consulting widely on our plans for resources, waste and recycling in developing our waste and resources strategy.

Tolls: Pollution Control

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of congestion zone charging in reducing levels of nitrogen oxide.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The effectiveness of both low emission zones and congestion zone charging in reducing levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) has been considered in the ‘Evidence review on effectiveness of transport measures in reducing nitrogen dioxide’ (Defra and Ricardo Energy & Environment, 2016), which is available online at: uk-air.defra.gov.uk.The UK plan for tackling roadside NO2 is clear that a range of measures which improve air quality could also reduce congestion, including improving local bus services and changing road layouts at pinch points.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Recruitment

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to employ additional staff in response to demands placed on his Department by the EU exit process.

George Eustice: Over 80% of Defra’s agenda is affected by the UK’s departure from the European Union. As a result, many roles across the Defra group are supporting EU exit-related work, either directly or indirectly. As the Cabinet Secretary set out in July, we have recruited over 400 additional staff to support our comprehensive programme focused on EU exit and we continue to keep our plans under review.

Protection of Badgers Act 1992: Criminal Proceedings

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many people were (a) proceeded against and (b) convicted of an offence under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 in each police force area in 2016.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The following information was provided by the Ministry of Justice. The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates’ courts and found guilty at all courts of offences under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 and the Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996, in England and Wales, by police force area, in 2016, can be viewed in the table attached.  



Table
(Word Document, 28.39 KB)

Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many people were (a) proceeded against and (b) convicted of an offence under the Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996 in each police force area in 2016.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The following information was provided by the Ministry of Justice. The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates’ courts and found guilty at all courts of offences under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 and the Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996, in England and Wales, by police force area, in 2016, can be viewed in the table attached.  



Table
(Word Document, 28.39 KB)

Department for Exiting the European Union

Borders: Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what assessment his Department has made of the economic effect of establishment of a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

Mr Robin Walker: As set out in the Prime Minister's Article 50 letter we want to avoid a return to a hard border between our two countries, and to be able to maintain the Common Travel Area. The deeply integrated nature of trade, both domestically between Northern Ireland and Great Britain, and across the land border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, highlights why the UK is prioritising finding a solution that protects businesses’ ability to access these markets. We welcome the Commission's position paper on Northern Ireland and Ireland, in particular the commitment to avoid any physical infrastructure at the border, agreeing with the UK’s position as published last month. This is an important step forward, and demonstrates the close alignment on the UK’s and EU’s objectives on this issue.

EU External Trade: Turkey

Matthew Pennycook: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what recent discussions he or his officials have had with the Turkish Government about that country's customs agreement with the EU.

Mr Robin Walker: The UK Government will look to ensure continuity of trade between the UK and Turkey, following the UK's exit from the EU, factoring in the possible implications of Turkey's existing customs arrangement with the EU. UK Officials in the Department for International Trade, the Department for Exiting the EU, the UK Permanent Representation to the EU, and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office have met Officials of the Republic of Turkey who, in the process, have brought up the issue of their own customs arrangements with the EU.

Brexit

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that the views of town councils and rural and urban district councils are taken into account as the UK defines its stance for negotiation with the EU.

Mr Robin Walker: Ministers have engaged with elected leaders and officials from local councils across the UK and intend to continue this work throughout the exit process. The Department for Exiting the European Union and the Department for Communities and Local Government are working closely with the Local Government Association and regional partners to understand issues related to exit and identify any regional implications.The former Minister of State (David Jones, the Rt Hon Member for Clwyd West) held a meeting of the Local Government Associations for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland in February 2017. Further engagement with local government stakeholders is planned in the coming weeks.

Arms Trade: Export Controls

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, if he will seek in negotiations with the EU to ensure that the UK continues to participate in EU information exchange and co-operation mechanisms relating to arms and dual-use transfer control.

Mr Robin Walker: As part of the deep and special partnership the UK seeks with the EU, we want to continue to work closely with our European Partners, including on security, foreign and defence policy.  We want a partnership whereby we contribute to the security of Europe using our range of defence and security capabilities, our networks and influence, our policy expertise and through information sharing.

Weapons: Smuggling

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, if he will seek in negotiations with the EU to ensure that the UK continues to co-operate with the EU on issues relating to intelligence and information sharing to maximise efforts to identify, interdict and prosecute cases of illicit arms trafficking.

Mr Robin Walker: As part of the deep and special partnership the UK seeks with the EU, we want to continue to work closely with our European Partners, including on security, foreign and defence policy.We want a partnership whereby we contribute to the security of Europe, using our range of defence and security capabilities, our networks and influence and our policy expertise.Constraining weapons proliferation is a key foreign policy objective and intelligence and information sharing are central to efforts to identify, interdict and prosecute cases of illicit arms trafficking. Sharing information on interdictions once the UK has left the EU will take place within the broader context of negotiations.

Arts: Trade Agreements

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, whether he plans to prioritise the creative industries in trade agreement negotiations on the UK leaving the EU.

Mr Robin Walker: This government recognises the value of the UK creative industries, with creative sector growth rising faster than the wider economy and creative exports in strong demand across the world. The UK is home to exceptional creative talent and is global centre of excellence in many areas, including fashion, design and film.We want this success to continue. As we enter negotiations with the EU we want to ensure that we get the best deal that works for all sectors, including our vibrant creative industries. Our intention is to secure the freest trade possible in services, including in the creative industries to encourage further growth and to ensure the security of the businesses and skills in the UK.

Brexit

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, if he will make an assessment of the merits of an opt-in system of payment for UK citizens who want to retain their EU rights.

Mr Robin Walker: The Prime Minister has been clear that we want to secure the rights of EU citizens in the UK and UK citizens in the EU as early as possible. We are seeking a reciprocal agreement with the EU to safeguard the rights of UK citizens, and it will be for the EU and its Member States to decide how they will implement any agreed deal.

EU Grants and Loans: Northern Ireland

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what discussions he has had with the EU institutions about funding for Northern Ireland from the EU Peace Programme (a) before and (b) after the UK leaves the EU.

Mr Robin Walker: As set out in our position paper on Northern Ireland and Ireland the government wants to work with the EU on how together we can maintain the implementation of the PEACE IV programme. The UK proposes that, without prejudice to the wider discussions on the financial settlement and Structural and Investment Funds, the UK and the EU should agree the continuation of funding for PEACE IV for the duration of the existing programme and, with the Northern Ireland Executive and Irish Government, explore a potential future programme post-2020. The government remains committed to peace and reconciliation programmes and to sustaining cross-border cooperation.

Drugs: Manufacturing Industries

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what discussions he has had with pharmaceutical companies on potential employment in that sector for qualified persons for pharmacovigilance, marketing authorisation holders and qualified people for batch release after the UK leaves the EU.

Mr Robin Walker: Stakeholder engagement is a central element of our plan to build a national consensus around our negotiating position. We are listening and talking to as many pharmaceuticals organisations, companies and institutions as possible.The recent Goods position paper outlines our ambitions for a deep and special partnership which allows the freest and most frictionless possible trade in goods. In the context of withdrawal, the paper is clear that we want to reach an agreement that minimises disruption for businesses and consumers, including by agreeing the continued validity of existing market authorisations and compliance activity in regard to the pharmaceuticals sector.

Refugees: Families

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, whether the Government will continue to apply the family reunification Dublin III Regulation when the UK leaves the EU.

Mr Robin Walker: The UK’s family reunion policy is generous; we have and continue to reunite many refugees with their immediate family. We have granted over 23,000 family reunion visas over the last five years.Whilst we remain a member of the EU, we will continue to participate in Dublin III. We are ready to discuss our future relationship on establishing responsibility for processing asylum claims as part of negotiations. It would be wrong to set out our position on the nature of any future relationship here, but we expect our close cooperation on asylum and migration with our European allies to continue after the UK leaves the EU.

Arms Trade: Export Controls

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, if his Department will use negotiations with the EU to ensure that the UK retains influence over EU arms exports frameworks.

Mr Robin Walker: As part of the deep and special partnership the UK seeks with the EU, we want to continue to work closely with our European Partners, including on security, foreign and defence policy.We want a partnership whereby we contribute to the security of Europe using our range of defence and security capabilities, our networks and influence, our policy expertise and through information sharing.

Brexit

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, whether his Department plans to ensure through negotiations with the EU that the EU will not be able to impose economic sanctions on the UK when it is no longer a member of the EU.

Mr Robin Walker: We want our future relationship with the EU to be a deep and special partnership, taking in both economic and security cooperation and, in our Article 50 notification letter, we stressed that the UK will continue to share European values and security interests with our EU partners after we leave.We are confident that the EU will have no reason to impose economic sanctions, or any other sanctions, on the UK after we leave the EU. On the contrary, the UK and EU will continue to have a shared interest in using economic sanctions to tackle common threats such as terrorism.

Civil Servants: Secondment

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many civil servants have been sent to Brussels at any point to engage in the detail of the Brexit negotiation talks; and how many of these have been seconded from outside the Government.

Mr Robin Walker: We have released information on the UK's senior negotiating team on Gov.uk. As an indication of the number of civil servants in attendance at negotiations in Brussels, at the second round we had over 90 civil servants in attendance, and for the third round, over 100. The total number of staff will vary from round to round as we deploy the negotiating team best able to work on the issues under negotiation. We are drawing together expertise from a wide range of departments where there is specific relevant knowledge on the issues to be negotiated.I can confirm that of the Department for Exiting the European Union staff who attended the negotiations in July and August, none were seconded from outside of Government. We do not hold information on the contractual arrangements of individuals from other Government Departments.

Economic Situation

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what plans his Department has to publish studies into the effect of the UK leaving the EU on different sectors of the UK economy.

Mr Robin Walker: It is not standard practice to provide an ongoing commentary on internal analytical work that is being carried out within government. The Government's plan for leaving the EU has been discussed at length, and Parliament will have a say on the final deal we achieve with the European Union by putting that deal to a vote in both Houses before it comes into force. But as Parliament has also agreed, we will not publish anything that would undermine our ability to negotiate the best deal for the UK.

Department for Exiting the European Union: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many procurements undertaken by his Department have taken more than (a) three months, (b) six months, (c) one year and (d) two years.

Mr Steve Baker: The Department for Exiting the European Union has not undertaken a procurement which has taken more than three months, six months or one year. Two years is out of scope as this would predate the establishment of the Department.

Department for Exiting the European Union: Buildings

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how much his Department has received from sub-lets on its estate in each year since 2010.

Mr Robin Walker: The Department for Exiting the European Union occupies properties managed by other government departments. It has not received any income from sub-letting property.

Brexit

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what estimate has been made of the amount his Department plans to pay for the UK to leave the EU.

Mr Robin Walker: On the financial settlement, we have acknowledged that the UK has obligations to the EU and the EU to the UK, that will survive the UK’s withdrawal - which need to be resolved. We will continue discussions on how we determine a fair settlement of the UK’s rights and obligations as a departing member state, in accordance with the law and in the spirit of the UK’s continuing partnership with the EU.In July the Commission set out the European Union position. We have a duty to our taxpayers to interrogate that position rigorously.

Department for Exiting the European Union: Buildings

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how much his Department has paid in letting fees for its estate in each year since 2010.

Mr Robin Walker: The Department for Exiting the European Union occupies properties managed by other government departments. It has not paid any letting fees.

Attorney General

Rape: Sentencing

Diana Johnson: To ask the Attorney General, how many times (a) the CPS or (b) victims have requested that he reconsider court sentences for rape under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 on the grounds of undue leniency since 2009-10; on how many occasions he referred those cases to the Court of Appeal in each of those years; and on how many occasions the Court of Appeal decided (i) that the sentence was unduly lenient and (ii) to increase the sentence in each year in that period.

Jeremy Wright: The records that the Attorney General’s Office holds reveal the following data in relation to rape offences.  Please note that these figures include referrals for sentences passed for rape offences charged under the 1956 Sexual Offences Act (for offences committed prior to the commencement of the 2003 Act but which were not sentenced until 2009 or afterwards) as well as for rape offences charged under the provisions of the Sexual Offences Act 2003. It is of course likely that a high proportion of the referrals received by my office from the CPS will have been submitted with the full support of the victim.Year Referrals to AGO made by Victim Referrals to AGO made by CPSReferred by AG or SG to CoAConsidered ULS by the courtReferrals where sentence increased2009 0149662010 0 18 8 6 62011  0 13 7 7 72012  4 21 12 11 112013  5 14 10 10 102014  6 14 13 10 102015  6 15 12 (1 of which was subsequently withdrawn) 11 112016  7 23 21 (1 of which was subsequently withdrawn 17 172017  5 10 9 (of which 2 await determination) 7 7

Attorney General: Cybercrime

Jon Trickett: To ask the Attorney General, whether the principle set out in paragraph 5.3.6 of the Government's Cyber Security Strategy that everyone who works in government has a sound awareness of cyber risk applies to members of staff employed by contractors doing work procured by the Law Officers' Departments.

Jeremy Wright: The policy set out in paragraph 5.3.6 of the National Cyber Security Strategy applies to everyone employed by the Law Officers’ Departments, including contractors. The Law Officers’ Departments are committed to ensuring that contractors and their staff have a sound awareness of cyber risk matters and they take all necessary safeguards to protect the department’s information.Cyber security awareness, the need to ensure contractual compliance with Information Assurance standards such as ISO 27001:2013 certification and “Cyber Essentials/ Plus” is included in contract specifications and reviewed as part of the evaluation process. Contractors must comply with the department’s IT security policies and procedures.

Attorney General: Arms Length External Organisations

Jon Trickett: To ask the Attorney General, what estimate he has made of the number of new arms-length bodies the Law Officers' Departments plan to establish once the UK has left the EU.

Jeremy Wright: The UK’s relationship with the EU's agencies upon exit will be evaluated in light of delivering the twelve objectives outlined by the Prime Minister to achieve a deep and special partnership between the UK and the EU. The UK’s future relationship with the EU's decentralised bodies after leaving the EU is a matter for the negotiations.Prior to any decisions on establishing new agencies, the Government will, however, always look to minimise disruption and costs, which will include considering alternative options.

Ministry of Justice

Rape: Trials

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of trials for alleged rape under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 did not go ahead on the day they were scheduled for each Crown court in England and Wales in each year since 2009-10.

Dominic Raab: Data on the proportion of trials for alleged rape offences that did not go ahead on the scheduled day in the Crown Court can be found in the attached table:Table 1 - Effectiveness of Crown Court trials for rape offences in England and Wales, by Crown Court, 2009 - 2016.This shows the proportion of alleged rape trials that were effective (where the trial commences on the day it is scheduled), those that are cracked (where the trial does not commence on the scheduled date and the trial is not rescheduled) and those that are ineffective (where the trial does not commence on the due date and requires rescheduling).For England and Wales, the number of Crown Court trials for rape offences has increased by 65%, from 2,049 in 2009 to 3,388 in 2016. In the same time period, the proportion of ineffective trials for rape offences decreased from 10% to 8% of total trials, and the proportion of cracked trials for rape offences decreased from 14% to 7% of total trials. There was a corresponding increase in the proportion of effective trials for rape offences from 76% in 2009 to 85% in 2016.



Effectiveness of Crown Court Trials
(Excel SpreadSheet, 30.54 KB)

Crime: Victims

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has to bring forward legislation on victims' rights to make clear what level of service they should expect from the police.

Dr Phillip Lee: On 18 January the previous government announced that it would set out a strategy for victims of crime within 12 months, and that it would take the appropriate action to give effect to the strategy, including bringing forward any appropriate legislation.

Prisoners: Basic Skills

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department has taken to increase the levels of literacy and numeracy in the prison population.

Mr Sam Gyimah: All adult prisoners in English prisons have an assessment of their maths and English needs on entry to prison, when they transfer between prisons, and prior to release. As set out in the White Paper, “Prison Safety and Reform” published in November 2016, we will ensure that a core common curriculum, focused on the underpinning basic skills of maths and English, will apply in every prison and that every prisoner will have a Personal Learning Plan linked to their sentence plan. We have introduced additional assessment of prisoners’ levels of maths and English on transfer between prisons and on release, gathering data that will allow us to compare prisoners’ attainment in maths and English on release with that at the start of custody, and to measure progress made by prisoners whilst serving their sentences. We have already introduced significant flexibility in our funding rules for prison education, giving prison governors more ability to put in place a curriculum that meets the needs of learners and responds to the demand for skills in the areas to which those prisoners will be released. Once existing prison education contracts end, we will make prison governors fully responsible for education provision in their prisons, commissioning the services they think are most appropriate in their individual prison. This will allow governors to decide how to structure their educational regime, and who delivers it, while following a core common curriculum set nationally which will focus on maths and English.

Prisoners: Self-harm

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department has taken to reduce the incidence of self-harming of people held in the Prison Estate.

Mr Sam Gyimah: We have put in place a range of measures to support prisoners who are at risk of self-harm or suicide, especially in the early period in custody, when they are at their most vulnerable.We have established a Prison Safety programme to support establishments in the implementation of the reforms set out in the Prison Safety and Reform White Paper, including our investment in an additional 2,500 staff who will help deliver consistent, purposeful regimes and allow us to introduce a new key worker role to support better staff-prisoner relationships.We are rolling out new training across the estate to support our staff to identify the risks and triggers of suicide and self-harm and understand what they can do to support prisoners at risk. We have put in place specialist roles - regional safer custody teams - in every region to provide advice to prisons and to spread good practice on identifying and supporting prisoners at risk. We are using experts, including providing extra funding for the Samaritans, to provide targeted support for prison staff and to prisoners directly.

Prisoners: Suicide

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners have died by suicide in 2017 to date.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Every death in custody is a tragedy and we are redoubling our efforts to make prisons places of safety for those at risk. We have put in place a range of measures to support prisoners who are at risk of self-harm or suicide, especially in the first 24 hours when they are at their most vulnerable. We are also rolling out new training across the estate to support our staff to identify the risks and triggers of suicide and self-harm and understand what they can do to support prisoners at risk. Data on deaths in prison custody are published quarterly in the Safety in Custody statistics. The most recent statistics were published on 27 July 2017 and cover deaths in prison custody to June 2017. They are available at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/safety-in-custody-statistics. The next set of statistics, covering deaths to September 2017, will be published on 26 October 2017.

Scotland Office

Scotland Office: Behavioural Insights Team

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how much his Department has paid to the Behavioural Insights Team in each year since 2014.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office have made no payments to the Behavioural Insights Team since 2014.

Scotland Office: Behavioural Insights Team

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what services his Department has received from the Behavioural Insights Team since 2014.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office has not received services from the Behavioural Insights Team.

Cabinet Office

Civil Servants: Recruitment

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of civil service roles were advertised externally for each year since 2010.

Caroline Nokes: Unfortunately, the department only holds information regarding advertised roles in the Civil Service from January 2011. The information below includes appointments advertised on Civil Service jobs, which includes adverts from 159 government departments and organisations, and appointments to the Civil Service Fast Stream and through the Fast Track apprenticeship scheme. Departments are able to recruit through third party providers however, meaning that this response is not representational of all advertised roles for the Civil Service, only the ones that are advertised centrally. It is also worth noting that the Civil Service Fast Track Apprenticeship only started in 2013. The Cabinet Office will not be including information on appointments to the Senior Civil Service as this will be covered by a separate response to a different Parliamentary Question you have submitted. The proportion of civil service roles that were advertised externally since January 2011 is as follows. 2011 – 25.9% 2012 – 35.4% 2013 – 30.6% 2014 – 31.6% 2015 – 46.4% 2016 – 53.7% - not including Fast Stream figures as these are being prepared for future publication

Senior Civil Servants: Recruitment

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, (a) what proportion of and (b) how many appointments to the senior Civil Service were made (i) internally and (ii) externally in each year since 2010.

Caroline Nokes: The number of entrants into the Senior Civil Service since 2010 is as follows: New Entrants to the SCS InternalExternal% Internal2010/1116110261.2%2011/1227010572.0%2012/1334421062.1%2013/1446918072.3%2014/1545618770.9%2015/1656217176.7%2016/1754917775.6%

Civil Servants: Recruitment

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of appointments in the Civil Service were made (a) internally and (b) externally in each year since 2010.

Caroline Nokes: Due to platform changes for the Civil Service Jobs website, the department only holds central information regarding appointments from April 2014. The information held includes appointments advertised on Civil Service jobs for 39 government departments and organisations. As well as this, the information also includes data from the Civil Service Fast Stream and the Direct Entry Scheme, which is for ‘near miss’ Fast Stream applicants. The information does not include information on Civil Service Fast Track data. Departments are also able to recruit through third party providers, meaning the Cabinet Office is not able to include these figures in this response. The Cabinet Office will not be including information on appointments to the Senior Civil Service as this will be covered by a separate response to a different Parliamentary Question you have submitted. For central records held: In 2014, from April of that year, the proportion of appointments in the Civil Service made to internal candidates was 67.9%, with external candidates being 32.1%. In 2015, the proportion of appointments in the Civil Service made to internal candidates was 67.2%, with external candidates being 32.8%. In 2016, the proportion of appointments in the Civil Service made to internal candidates was 63.3%, with external candidates being 37.7%. Please note that these percentages do not include Civil Service Fast Stream or Direct Entry Scheme as these figures are being prepared for future publication.

Cybercrime

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the target figure is for the objective relating to the number of online products and services coming into use being secure by default  by 2021 as set out in objective 5.2.3 of the Government's National Cyber Security Strategy 2016 to 2021.

Caroline Nokes: ‘Secure by Default’ refers to solving security problems at root; acting at scale to reduce the harm to online systems. There is no target figure due to the magnitude of online products and services. The National Cyber Security Centre is developing secure systems so that the burden on users to make the right decisions is reduced. Additionally, the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is currently leading a comprehensive review on how we can improve the security of consumer connected devices and services.

Government Property Unit: Staff

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the adequacy of staffing in the Government Property Unit.

Caroline Nokes: The Government Property Unit has an organisational structure and staffing complement designed to meet its delivery objectives. It has recently been through a period of recruitment to ensure it has the correct balance of technical and generalist skills. The Unit makes use of a mixed economy of interim and permanent resource to manage demand and access to specialist skills.

Government Departments: Consultants

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many applications for approval to appoint consultants for assignments across Government that extend beyond nine months have been (a) approved with conditions, (b) approved without conditions and (c) withdrawn since 2015.

Caroline Nokes: Of the 350 requests for consultancy received through the Cabinet Office consultancy control since the start of 2015, 296 were approved of which 173 included additional conditions. 48 requests were withdrawn.

Corruption

Frank Field: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the Government intends to (a) appoint an anti-corruption champion and (b) release its Anti-Corruption Strategy.

Chris Skidmore: The Government intends to appoint an nti-corruption champion in due course.The position of the Anti-Corruption Strategy remains the same as in the answer I gave to a smililar question on 27 June (PQ144); the Government is working on a new Anit-Corruption Strategy which will be published in due course.

Electronic Government: Proof of Identity

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the success rate is of verified user identities from the Government Verify system being accepted by the departmental service being accessed by that person.

Caroline Nokes: ‘Success’ in this context is measured as the percentage of people with a verified identity who are then ‘matched’ with the departmental service they are attempting to access. Matching ensures that the user is shown the correct record within the service. Between January and August 2017, the matching success rate was 88%.

Government Digital Service: Staff

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many members of staff of the Government Digital Service have come from the civil service fast stream.

Caroline Nokes: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 12 September 2017.The correct answer should have been:

The Department does not centrally hold records extending back to the date specified; gathering this data could only be provided at disproportionate cost.We do not keep records of the number of GDS staff who have ever been on the civil service fast stream; however, there are currently 16 fast streamers working at GDS.

Caroline Nokes: The Department does not centrally hold records extending back to the date specified; gathering this data could only be provided at disproportionate cost.We do not keep records of the number of GDS staff who have ever been on the civil service fast stream; however, there are currently 16 fast streamers working at GDS.

Electronic Government: Proof of Identity

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Government is on track to meet the target of 25 million people using the Verify service by April 2020.

Caroline Nokes: To date, 1.5m people have used GOV.UK Verify to perform 3.7m secure transactions. HMG has committed to rollout Verify across departmental services. To facilitate this, we continue to innovate and improve the GOV.UK Verify service in order to support departments’ transformation plans and the migration of citizen-facing services from Government Gateway. In addition to continuing with the rollout of GOV.UK Verify across central government, we also continue to explore the wider applications for GOV.UK Verify for secure citizen identity verification in both the wider public and private sectors. We remain confident that this planned activity enables us to work towards 25m users by 2020.

Electronic Government: Proof of Identity

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which departmental services have connected to the Government Verify service.

Caroline Nokes: There are currently 14 departmental services accessible through GOV.UK Verify. They are:Vehicle Operator Licensing (DVLA)Digital mortgaging service (HM Land Registry)Personal Tax Account (HMRC)Check your income tax (HMRC)Report a medical condition that affects your driving (DVLA)Renew your short term medical driving licence (DVLA)Check your State Pension (DWP)Universal Credit Digital Service (DWP)View or share your driving licence information (DVLA)Claim for redundancy payment (Insolvency Service)Help your friends or family with their tax (HMRC)Self Assessment (HMRC)Rural Payments (DEFRA)PAYE for employees: company car tax (HMRC) The following services have also connected to GOV.UK Verify, but are not currently available to the public:Tax credits service (HMRC)Claim a tax refund (HMRC)Marriage Allowance (HMRC)

Government Departments: Email

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Government Digital Service will publish the findings of its central monitoring of email vulnerability levels for departments since April 2017.

Caroline Nokes: Government takes email security seriously but has no plans to publish details of specific monitoring or vulnerabilities. The National Cyber Security Centre, together with Government Digital Service, advocates the use of the DMARC protocol that makes email spoofing much harder. In parallel, the National Cyber Security Centre has built a Mail Check service that monitors adoption of these standards. In May 2017 1,070 domains were using the Mail Check service, rising to 1,208 in June and 1,224 in July.

Business Appointments Advisory Committee

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many letters have been published on the ACOBA website more than one month after the letter being sent in (a) the last 12 months and (b) each year since 2010.

Chris Skidmore: I refer the Honourable Member to my previous answer [7702].

Government Property Unit: Staff

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many agency staff have been employed in the Government Property Unit; and how many secondments there have been to that unit from (a) inside and (b) outside government in each year since 2010.

Caroline Nokes: Information about agency staff employed in the Government Property Unit (GPU) since 2010 is not held centrally and would incur disproportionate costs to determine. I can however confirm that two agency staff are currently employed in the GPU. Our records show that (a) one employee has been seconded into the GPU from outside Government and (b) four employees have served periods of secondment to organisations outside Government, since 2010.

Electronic Government: Proof of Identity

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much each Government department is charged for using the Government's Verify scheme.

Caroline Nokes: Each department is charged £1.20 per user, per year for successful confirmation of identity.

Civil Servants: Pensions

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many Cabinet Office staff do not meet the eligibility criteria for the Civil Service Pension Scheme.

Caroline Nokes: Information about the number of Cabinet Office staff that do not meet the eligibility criteria for the Civil Service Pension Scheme is not held centrally, and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Local Government: Elections

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many expressions of interest have been received from local authorities to run ID pilots at the 2018 local elections; and with reference to paragraph 5.6 of his Department's Electoral Integrity Pilots Prospectus, what evidence his Department will accept as a demonstration of local support for such a pilot.

Chris Skidmore: The opportunity to pilot voter ID in May 2018 was offered on a number of occasions to all local authorities in Great Britain and a number have committed to do so. We will make an announcement in due course of which local authorities will pilot voter ID in May 2018. The decision to pilot is one for the leadership of each local authority and we have received confirmation from each pilot authority leader that the criteria for participation have been met.

Public Sector: Iron and Steel

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of procurement of British steel since the Government's procurement policy note 11/6 on procuring steel in major projects was published.

Caroline Nokes: Last December, the Government issued updated guidance on how to ensure that public sector contracting authorities take full account of the value provided by UK steel producers when conducting their procurement activities; and extended this guidance to the wider public sector. All central departments, their agencies and arm’s length bodies are already required to apply these guidelines on relevant projects.

Cabinet Office: Staff

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish the number of his Department's employees who have been employed other than in his Department's payroll in each year since 2010-11.

Caroline Nokes: The number of non-payroll employees (staff loaned or seconded in who remain on their parent organisation payroll) in my Department in each year since 2010-11 is shown in the table below: 2010/112011/122012/132013/142014/152015/162016/1793136181186127127121 Audited information about the numbers of contractors working in the Department is published in the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts. These are available on the Cabinet Office website at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/cabinet-office-annual-reports-and-accounts My Department seeks to make the best use of staff and resources to deliver the Government’s objectives in a way that represents value for money for the taxpayer. This includes interchange with other Government Departments and other sectors, and an appropriate mix of employment contract types that meet the needs of the business.

Fraud

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to publish the findings of his Department's economic crime review.

Chris Skidmore: The Government is committed to strengthening the UK's response to bribery, corruption, money laundering, fraud and other forms of economic crime. The Government is continuing to review options to improve the effectiveness of the UK's response to economic crime, and any measures resulting from this work will be announced in due course.

House of Commons Commission

Parliament: Apprentices

Karin Smyth: To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, with reference to the Answers of 21 April 2017 to Questions 70502 and 70503, on apprentices: Parliament, whether the House of Commons has declared a levy payment since May 2017.

Tom Brake: The House of Commons has made levy payments to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) since April 2017, in the region of £37,000–£38,000 per month. All levy payments are up to date. This figure includes the House of Lords share of staff costs which are incurred on a shared basis between the two Houses.

House of Commons: ICT

Chi Onwurah: To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, what preparations the House authorities have made to apply big data analytics to House and hon. Member activities.

Tom Brake: Since the launch of data.parliament.uk in 2015 the Parliamentary Digital Service has continued to deliver improvements to the volume and quality of data about the House and hon. Member activities, with a view to publishing open data for both internal and external re-use and analysis via the new website.The Parliamentary Digital Service has increased its expertise in working with data through new recruitment and development of existing staff. New techniques in data science are being investigated, for example machine learning, with support from colleagues in the Government Digital Service. Work is ongoing to ensure that data about Parliamentary activity is available for analysis, to help deliver internal efficiencies and to facilitate research by colleagues, in particular the House of Commons Library. To deliver the value from big data analytics it is critical that the underlying data structure schema are consistent and robust. The Parliamentary Digital Service continues to work on this key enabling data infrastructure.